BACOLOD CITY - The Roselyn Jean Pelle Command (RJPC)–Northern Negros Guerilla Front of the New People’s Army (NPA) owned up the burning of three more trucks in Toboso, Negros Occidental on Monday, Dec. 26.
This came barely two weeks after the first incident which left P600,000 worth of damage on two trucks owned by the same landowner in Barangay Tabun-ac on Dec. 14.
In a statement released to the media on Tuesday, Dec. 27, Cecil Estrella, spokesperson of RJPC-NPA, said it was the second sanction imposed against the landowner in Barangay San Isidro allegedly for ‘disrespecting’ the revolutionary movement and ‘completely disregarding’ the alleged repeated calls of his farm workers for wage increase and benefits.
Estrella said the incident occurred within the guerrilla zones of RJPC-NPA during the 54th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
Earlier, the group claimed that they are not interested in subjecting the landowner’s business operation to collection of revolutionary tax.
The burning incident ran contrary to the claims made by the Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (IBde) and 79th Infantry Battalion (IB) that the rebels’ ‘front’ had already been ‘dismantled.’ The group said that peace talks should be at a national scale and that it should tackle the root cause of armed conflict which are genuine land reform, and national industrialization to address unsecured jobs, among others.
Meanwhile, Major Jun Ray Batadlan, Toboso police chief, has yet to issue a statement regarding the incident.