Military condemn attack on sugar planters

Thursday, January 19, 2012

THE attack on the sugar planters in Negros Occidental showed that the New People's Army in Negros is weak, the Army's 303rd Commander Col. Oscar Lactao said Wednesday.

Lactao issued the statement after six suspected armed rebels torched a tractor at the sugarcane farm in Barangay Cabacungan, La Castellana, Negros Occidental Tuesday.

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"It's an indication that they are weak, as they attack only those who can't fight against them," Lactao said.

Negros Occidental police director Allan Guisihan said the tractor torched by the rebels is owned by the family of Bacolod City councilor Al Victor Espino.

He said the suspects arrived in Hacienda Vicenta Tuesday morning and ordered the driver Hansel Carpio to alight from the tractor before setting it on fire.

Guisihan said the suspects told the driver that they burned the tractor because the farm owner refused to pay revolutionary tax.

"If they are for CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program), they should help CARP and they should not to attack the sugar planters,” he added.

The police director tagged the rebels as extortionists with no ideology.

Guisihan said they will conduct further investigation on the continued extortion activities of the rebels in Negros Occidental.