NPAs burn Globe cellsite in Compostela Valley

DAVAO CITY – Suspected New People’s Army rebels burned down yesterday a cellsite tower of Globe Telecommunications Corp. at Purok 5, Barangay Linoan, Montevista, Compostela Valley.

According to Southern Mindanao regional police director Chief Superintendent Andres Caro II, there were at least more or less seven NPA rebels who torched the said Globe cellsite at around 5 a.m. yesterday.

Caro said the incident could be another act of the NPA rebels to exact revolutionary fees from various companies operating in the region.

Compostela Valley and the neighboring provinces of Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur are considered as the strongest lairs of the communist guerrillas in this part of the country.

The NPAs have lately been in an offensive not only against military and police personnel but also against large private companies, including banana plantations and mining firms in the region.

Military officials said the rebels have been getting the bulk of the funds for their operations from the mining companies, especially at the gold-rush site in Mt. Diwalwal in Monkayo as well as in Pantukan and Maco towns, also in Compostela Valley.

Army Maj. Gen. Leo Jogy Fojas, commander of the 10th Infantry Division, urged the various mining and agricultural companies here to establish their own units of militiamen to look after their security requirements.