DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / July 14, 2014) – Troops clashed Monday with a group of gunmen who raided a banana plantation in the southern Philippine province of North Cotabato, officials said.
Officials said one of the raiders was killed in the fighting that lasted about one hour in the village of Dugos in Tulunan town where gunmen led by Sukarno Sultan and Lingguna Sultan attacked the Delinanas Banana Plantation and torched two backhoes in the farm.
Capt. Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command, said soldiers, from the 39th Infantry Battalion, who responded to the attack, also recovered an AK-47 assault rifle from the slain gunman.
The motive of the attack was unknown, but other reports said land dispute with the farm, a subsidiary of Del Monte Fresh Produce Philippines, Inc., could be one of the reasons for the raid. Others said extortion could also be the motive behind the attack.
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz, commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command, told security forces to stay vigilant and intensify the operations against lawless elements. “We are doing our best to protect socio-economic and industrial centers and secure our people and their ways of life from unnecessary threats and intimidation by lawless and criminal elements,” he said.
No other details were made available by the military or the police on the background of the raiders.
Banana and pineapple are among southern Philippines biggest exports. (Mindanao Examiner)
20