Negros NPA discloses attack vs. ‘destructive’ quarrying company

It was the Romeo Nanta Command of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Negros Island Region that conducted the “punitive action” against a quarrying company last July 4, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said.

In a report on its official publication Ang Bayan (The People), the CPP said it was the NPA in South Central Negros Island that burned the two dump trucks and a backhoe in Sitio Medel, Barangay Carabalanin Himamaylan City last Friday as punishment to the operator of the destructive quarry operations in the area.

“The quarrying equipment was owned by Barangay Carabalan chairperson Mildred Titular. It is estimated that the three equipment were worth ₱11 million,” the CPP said.

NPA-South Central Negros spokesperson Dionesio Magbuelas said the quarrying operation had long been a problem to the residents due to its effects on the Paniplan River.

“The river keeps on deepening because of quarrying, depriving farmers of their water source for irrigation,” Magbuelas said.

It has also become dangerous for residents to cross the river because the water has deepened, he added.

The CPP said Titular forced the residents to sign a “Free, Prior and Informed Consent” document in 2021 to start her company’s operations, aided by the 94^th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.

She also distributed bribe money to ply some residents into agreeing, the CPP said.

The CPP also revealed that the 94th IB swooped down on Barangay Carabalan after the NPA attack.

“It is clear that the mercenary army (Philippine Army) is only interested in defending destructive quarrying, landlords, bourgeois compradors and bureaucrat capitalists,” it said.

Titular has yet to respond to Kodao’s requests for a statement.

The CPP said NPA -South Central Negros punitive action serves as a reminder to companies and individual to respect the people’s human rights and livelihood in the name of personal profit.

It added that the NPA will not hesitate from defending the people and the environment against quarrying, mining and other destructive projects. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)