'NPA rebels' burn heavy equipment in Negros Oriental

Suspected communist New People's Army rebels burned equipment of a government construction project at the boundaries of Manjuyod and Bindoy towns in Negros Oriental Friday. The rebels burned a backhoe, a crane, two dump trucks and a bulldozer at the multi-million project site in Malaga, Bindoy and Bala-as villages in Manjuyod, Visayan Daily Star reported Saturday. While the suspected NPA rebels fired warning shots, none of the workers were injured. An initial investigation showed at least three suspected NPA rebels aged 20 to 25 poured gasoline and planted improvised explosive devices on heavy equipment owned by the LL Construction Co. of Lawrence Limkaichong, the mayor of La Libertad town. Mayor Limkaichong is the husband of Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong, according to provincial director Senior Superintendent Edward Carranza. The LL Construction has been undertaking the multimillion-peso project at the Himampangon Road on a cliff. Explosions Crane operator Dionisio Alunay Emperado, 65, said he was sleeping inside a crane at Sitio Alawihaw, when he was awakened by three armed men who placed a small box inside the crane at about 12:30 a.m. The suspects dragged him and told him to get out and to drop to the ground, after which he heard an explosion. He said the suspects left on a black motorcycle. About 10 minutes after the first blast, he said he heard three more explosions. He learned later that the dump trucks and bulldozer were also attacked. One of the dump trucks was half-burned while the other one had minor damage, according to Manjuyod police chief Senior Inspector Wilfredo Villoria. Warning shots Villoria said some of the workers sleeping in a bunkhouse were roused during the attack, and threw stones at the suspects, who fired warning shots at them. Recovered from Manjuyod were five empty shells of a cal-.45 pistol and two shells of a 9-mm weapon; and another spent shell of a 9-mm pistol at Bindoy. Also found was a container with about four liters of gasoline. Villoria said witnesses told them that as the perpetrators fled, they shouted “Mabuhay ang NPA!"— LBG, GMA News