CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Extortion could be the motive behind the attack and the subsequent torching of heavy equipment in a quarry site in Valencia City, Bukidnon, the police said Sunday.
Lt. Col. Surki Sereñas, commander of the Valencia City police, said they are investigating the incident although the initial information gathered has so far pointed to extortion as the most probable reason for the attack.
He said a group of 10 young men, barefoot and armed, stormed the quarry site in Purok 6, Barangay Sinabuagan at about 5:45 a.m. on Saturday.
Witnesses told investigators the armed men introduced themselves as members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Torched by the attackers were two payloaders, a dump truck, a backhoe, a mini-dump truck, and two new payloader spare tires. The police placed the estimate of the damage on the equipment at PHP2.4 million.
“Quarry equipment operators said the armed men, most of them minors, introduced themselves as NPA,” Sereñas said Sunday.
Sereñas said before the burning, two unidentified men were already seen in the area.
However, since it is a wide-open space, the quarry operator just ignored them, he added.
He said they believed the culprits met in Sitio Kalawag, Barangay Apo Macote, and crossed the Polangui River before going to the quarry area. Witnesses noticed most of the suspects were barefoot, he said.
“We are still investigating, but according to witnesses, they recognized familiar faces. They (witnesses) were able to identify some of those in the group,” Sereñas said.
He said the attackers were young, with ages ranging from 16 to 24 years old. It took only about 10 minutes for the suspects to burn the vehicles, after which the attackers fled to different directions.
Sereñas said the equipment operators managed to put out the fire right after the suspects left.
“The NPA was in a hurry because the nearest military detachment is only about two kilometers away, who were alerted right away,” he said.
Sereñas said members of the attacking group are natives in the area as evident in their conversation, although he did not mention the tribe the suspects belong to.
“We do not intend to besmirch their name but I believe they are being misled into believing the distorted doctrine of the NPA,” he added. (PNA)
