NPA's extortion bid foiled

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines – The Army’s 56th Infantry Battalion (IB) thwarted extortion attempts by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels on mining companies and local officials in eastern Bulacan.

This, after a 30- minute firefight on the boundary of Bulacan, Quezon and Rizal last week, which resulted in the killing of a rebel and the arrest of another. A bomb-detonating device was also confiscated from the rebels.

Col. Hilario Vicente Lagnada, commanding officer of the 56th IB based in the city of San Jose del Monte, said the rebels tried to extort P5 million from Ore Asia Mining Co. in Barangay Camachin in the mountain town of Donya Remedios Trinidad.

Lagnada said the rebels also tried to extort P1 million from Mayor Rey Flores of the same town and P400,000 and an AK-47 assault rifle from Leobardo Piadozo, chairman of Barangay Sapang Bulac.

He said they also received reports that the rebels were extorting money from small- scale mining companies.

“We pre-empted them when we engaged them in an encounter last week,” Lagnada said.

He said there are only 38 armed NPA rebels in Bulacan but they ask their comrades in Rizal and Quezon to join them in extortion activities. He said NPA rebels resort to extortion to create the impression that they are still a force to reckon with.