DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 14, 2013) – Communist rebels raided a Japanese fruit exporter in the southern Philippines on Wednesday, but security officials said there were no casualties in the latest attack in the troubled region.
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, the regional army commander, said he dispatched troops to track down New People’s Army rebels tagged as behind the raid on Sumitomo Fruits Corporation in the village of Bangbang in North Cotabato’s Matalam town.
He said the rebels disarmed the guards and seized a shotgun and radio equipment before torching four trucks.
“There is an operation against the rebels and we have alerted troops in the province and neighboring towns about the NPA raid,” Cruz told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
The company did not issue any statement about the attack, but it started its operation in the southern Philippines in 1970 – growing bananas and in 1990 it introduced Gracio brand of bananas.
It now engages in the sourcing, production, shipment and marketing of various fresh fruits, primarily the bananas, pineapple and papaya and exports them to Japan, China, Korea, the Middle East, New Zealand and Russia.
The motive of the attack is still unknown, but the NPA – which is fighting for a separate state in the country – has been demanding so-called revolutionary taxes from various companies in the region. (Mindanao Examiner)
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