DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 12, 2014) – The New People’s Army on Saturday ambushed government troops in the southern Philippine province of Compostela Valley where the communist rebel group earlier attacked two mining firms it accused of destroying the environment.
Daniel Ibarra, a rebel spokesman, said the latest NPA offensive was a follow-up to an earlier attack on the
US-owned St. Augustine Gold and Copper Ltd., and the Malaysia-owned Apex Mining on April 7 and 10.
Ibarra said a still undetermined number of government soldiers were either killed or wounded in the NPA attack that targeted the 9th Infantry Battalion deployed at the Apex tenement complex in the village of Masara in Maco town.
He said the two mining companies “grossly and repeatedly violated regulations of the People’s Democratic Government with regards to environmental protection, workers’ welfare and people’s livelihood.”
He said rebel forces destroyed mining tunnels, trucks and heavy equipment of Apex Mining, including portable drills owned by St. Augustine mines in Pantukan town.
Tribesmen have longed complained against the intrusion of huge mining firms in their ancestral domain and sought help from the rebels to stop the destruction of their lands and exploitation of their natural resources.
Army Captain Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command, said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, the regional military chief, has ordered troops to pursue the attackers. He said the rebels have been extorting money from mining firms and even civilians to raise money for terror attacks in the region.
The NPA, which has been fighting for decades now for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country, has warned mining firms to stop its operations in Mindanao or face assault. (Mindanao Examiner)
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