|
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Danao cell site strafed, following Bohol incident
A cell site of Globe Telecom in Barangay Sabang, Danao City was reportedly strafed by unidentified persons late Monday afternoon.
Two security guards of the cell site engaged the gunmen in a shootout. The assailants, whose number has yet to be determined, fled minutes before policemen arrived.
No one was reported hurt.
The strafing occurred a day after eight armed men, who claimed to be members of the New People’s Army (NPA), burned a Globe cell site in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.
Police Regional Director Eduardo Gador and Acting Cebu Provincial Police Director Vicente Loot are coordinating with the officials of Globe and Smart Communications to beef up security measures in their respective cell sites.
Danao City Police Chief Larson Dechino, however, said there was no damage at the cell site, based on the inspection he made after receiving the call for assistance at 5:55 p.m. last Monday.
A representative from Globe’s security department also met with Dechino yesterday afternoon and verified his initial findings that the cell site did not incur any damage.
The company’s operation was not hampered, Dechino said.
The call for assistance came from Virgilio Matuguinas, one of the security guards detailed at the cell site, some five kilometers away from the police station.
Matuguinas told SPO4 Leonido Gomez, the investigator on duty, that the incident happened at 5 p.m. when he and another security guard heard successive bursts of gunfire.
Gomez told Sun.Star Cebu that Matuguinas and his companion failed to see how many gunmen fired at them. They were sure, though, that the assailants were near the perimeter fence of the cell site.
Matuguinas and his companion fired back until the shootout ceased.
Dechino said it is possible that the attack was carried out by NPA members.
Dechino led two teams from his station in responding to Matuguinas’ call.
Members of the 78th Infantry Battalion based in northern Cebu also helped the policemen in scouring the area to try to catch the armed men.
No clue
Dechino said they checked the area and the neighboring mountain barangays until early morning yesterday.
“At present, we are strengthening our intelligence-gathering to find out the people behind the incident,” Dechino said.
Initial information received by Dechino said there was no sighting of NPA members in the area recently that could bolster suspicion that the group initiated the attack.
They also did not receive information of a possible attack on cell sites.
Dechino said he spoke with a Globe official who went to the police station yesterday.
The official, whom Dechino failed to name, said that prior to the strafing, the company did not receive any letter or communication from the rebel group asking for a revolutionary tax.
PRO 7 Director Gador, in an interview with reporters yesterday, said he has ordered his men to take appropriate action to secure the cell sites.
He reminded both Globe and Smart, however, to never give in to the demands of the rebels to pay revolutionary tax.
“The policy of the government is not to give in to extortion activities,” Gador said. (JST)
(September 28, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
check>
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
