NPAs raid Compostela mining site

Some 50 communist rebels swooped down on the gold mining site of Apex Mining Corp. in Maco, Compostela Valley Thursday night, burning heavy equipment and carting away the firearms of security guards, authorities said.

Lt. Col. Benito de Leon, spokesman of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said the New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas arrived on board a miners’ bus and two dump trucks at around 7 p.m. and immediately disarmed the security guards.

They took away the guard’s five M-16 rifles, two shotguns, two caliber .38 revolvers and four handheld radios, and also burned a payloader and LPT ground mining equipment before fleeing.

Chief Superintendent Andres Caro II, Southern Mindanao police director, said the rebels were apparently planning to extort money from the company, as they were looking for its new manager and security officer.

No firefight reportedly erupted between the responding government forces and the rebels, believed to be men of a certain Commander Lando of the NPA’s Pulang Bagani Command 3.

In the past, the NPA staged attacks on facilities owned by private firms that refused to give in to their demand for “revolutionary taxes.”

Elements of the Army’s 25th and 66th Infantry Battalions have been dispatched to go after the NPA raiders.

The Southern Mindanao provinces of Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental are considered NPA strongholds in this part of the country.

Earlier, there were plans to deploy special Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) militiamen to secure mining companies, provided that the firms would provide them with allowances.

A CAFGU member receives a monthly subsistence allowance of P2,700.

As planned, the Army’s role would only be limited to providing training to and supervision of militiamen securing mining sites.