Rebs step up ‘taxation’ for CPP anniversary

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Viz-caya — New People’s Army (NPA) rebels have intensified their collection of "revolutionary taxes" in the Nueva Vizcaya-Nueva Ecija-Quirino tri-boundary in time for the Communist Party of the Philippines’ 32nd founding anniversary on Dec. 26.

Army Col. Inocencio Mayangao, commanding officer of the 54th Infantry Battalion (IB) based in the province, disclosed that more and more businessmen, mostly rice and vegetable traders, are complaining about the huge amount of "revolutionary taxes" the rebels are demanding from them.

This has prompted local businessmen, he said, to be up in arms over what they described as "unjust, arbitrary and excessive revolutionary taxes" being imposed upon them by the traditionally Maoist NPA guerrillas.

Mayangao said these businessmen have received letters purportedly from the NPA’s Arcadio Peralta Command, demanding that they shell out as much as P100,000 in time for the CPP’s founding anniversary.

Last Dec. 14, four heavily armed men, who claimed to be members of the Arcadio Peralta Command, stopped a Manila-bound cargo truck along the national highway in Minuli, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija, and handed the driver, Romeo Gutierrez, a letter with the CPP logo demanding P100,000.

The rebels then seized the vehicle and all pertinent documents and cargo, including the driver’s license and vehicle registration, and fled toward the south.

The rebels are raising money for a big celebration of the CPP’s founding anniversary, Mayangao said. Intelligence reports disclosed that the celebration will be marked by a meeting of top Northern Luzon party leaders somewhere in the Sierra Madre mountains.

The meeting, according to the reports, will possibly tackle the fine-tuning and operation of a plan to destabilize key urban centers in the North, taking advantage of the current political and economic crisis triggered by the impeachment proceedings against President Estrada.

Earlier, the 54th IB of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division had taken over security functions in the northern part of Nueva Ecija, including the Dalton Pass and Casecnan boundary, to neutralize the rebels’ reported strength in the area.

Some 50 fully armed NPA rebels, according to reports, are operating in the area.

Two weeks ago, about 50 NPA rebels in Carranglan, Nueva Ecija set three passenger buses on fire after their owners reportedly failed to pay "revolutionary taxes" on time.