NPAs attack cement plant

CAMP GEN. ALEJO SANTOS, Bulacan — Suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas blasted the equipment of a cement manufacturing plant and its partner construction firm in a mountainous village in Norzagaray town last Monday night.

Senior Superintendent Benjamin Michael Fokno, Bulacan police director, said the rebels, using dynamite sticks, blasted the power generator and tunnel board, estimated to cost P5 million, of Monark Cement Co. and its contractor, Holcim Construction Corp., in Minuyan, Norzagaray.

The rebels also took with them a Nissan Terrano service vehicle of Holcim as well as cellular phones and handheld radios of the company’s personnel and the service firearms of the security guards, Fokno said.

The police said about 20 to 30 heavily armed rebels swooped down on the cement plant at about 8 p.m. and planted the dynamite sticks around the facility.

Fokno said the security guards failed to fight back because they were outnumbered.

The military considers Minuyan and other mountainous villages in Norzagaray town, particularly Barangka, Pinagtulayan and Matictic, as the most NPA-infested areas in Norzagaray.

Fokno believes that the attack was the handiwork of the NPA, saying it is known to blast and destroy the equipment and facilities of companies which refuse to pay "revolutionary taxes."