NPA rebels tagged in torching of truck in Matalam

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Investigators are convinced communist rebels were behind Tuesday’s burning of a 10-wheeler truck near a sand quarry in Matalam town in the province.

Four men brandishing assault rifles  approached the truck parked along a road in Barangay Estado, ordered its driver to leave, and burned the vehicle using kerosene.

Chief Inspector Elias Colonia of the Matalam municipal police, said the gunmen, who divested the truck driver of his wristwatch, mobile phone, and other belongings, then left the scene.

The truck is owned by a construction firm involved in a local infrastructure project.

Colonia said the suspects were last seen fleeing toward Barangay Esperanza in President Roxas town, where New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas have been operating.

Colonia said investigators have been receiving information from barangay folks that those four men that set the truck on fire were members of the NPA.