Suspected communist guerrillas torched six heavy equipment in Cagayan on Friday, days after another group burned 12 construction equipment at a power plant in Mindoro.
A policeman was also killed Friday in sporadic fighting between communist guerrillas and government forces in Mindoro province.
Fighting broke again between government forces and communist rebels in Malamig village in Gloria, Oriental Mindoro, resulting in the killing of PO3 Edwin Encarnacion and the wounding of PO3 John John Morente.
Meanwhile, Sr. Supt. Chevalier Iringan said the burning incident occurred around 9 p.m. in Agani village, Alcala, Cagayan.
He said some 30 heavily armed men believed to be communist guerrillas swooped down on the construction depot of CAMIA Construction Company and threatened all the employees there.
The rebels then poured gasoline into the construction equipment parked inside the company’s office and then lighted it before fleeing.
Iringan said the torched equipment included three mixer trucks, a dump truck, one Grader and a steam roller.
The burning sortie is the third such incident since last week as the sporadic fighting between them and government forces has so far claimed the lives of three policemen and nearly a dozen rebels.
“The NPA’s activity is proof of their motive to pursue their lawless purpose, contrary to their claim of protecting the people,” Iringan said.
He said the construction equipment were being used in the ongoing road project in the villages of Baybayog, Masin, Pared and Pussian in Alcala town.
“The NPA’s evil act is proof of their desperate move to extort money from the construction firms in the locality,” Iringan said.
He said security forces will continue to protect all government installations and private companies.
The Police Regional Office-2 said security measures were being implemented to ensure the safety of all potential targets, including government vital installations, power lines, private companies and municipal police stations.”‹