Rebels to face raps for burning heavy equipment

Saturday, February 11, 2012

MILITARY in North Cotabato will file charges of human rights violation against the rebels behind Friday’s torching of heavy equipment used for doing road rehabilitation projects.

Lieutenant Manuel Gatus, chief of the civil military operations of the Army's 57th Infantry Battalion, said they would file the charges of violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and the International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) against the New Peoples' Army (NPA) rebels at the Government of the Republic of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (GRP-NDF) peace panel.

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The NPA is the armed wing of the rebel movement being represented by the NDF in the peace talks with the government.

"The arson the NPA did against the contractor was clear human rights violation. They're already into extortion, which is also a criminal offense," Gatus said.

Around 10:30 a.m., Friday, six armed men, onboard three motorcycles, arrived at the quarry site at Barangay San Roque while the vehicles were loading sand and gravel.

The suspects, who identified themselves as members of the NPA operating in North Cotabato, ordered drivers and workers to move out while they poured on the gasoline on each of the heavy equipment.

The torched vehicles included three dump trucks, a pay loader, and a backhoe.

City Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco said extortion was likely the motive in the arson.

The owner of the torched vehicles, Ricardo dela Cruz Interior Construction Company (RDCICC), has refused to give in to the demands of the group, said the mayor.

Some of the construction workers who witnessed the torching at Barangay San Roque also said the armed men told them they want to punish the contractor.

The suspects exited towards La Esperanza in President Roxas, also a town in North Cotabato, after the incident.

Inspector Rolando Dillera, deputy police director, estimated the damage at P7 million.