Friday, June 17, 2011
EB Magalona Mayor David Albert Lacson on Thursday said at least eighty percent of landowners in his town are allegedly being forced by the New People?s Army (NPA) rebels to pay revolutionary taxes.
?Nobody is giving in to their demands,? he said.
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Lacson said the rebels' extortion activities necessitate the setting up of a military detachment in the town to address the problem. However, he said his request for the detachment had been ignored.
Just this week, suspected NPA members burned a farm tractor in Hacienda Teresa, Barangay Alicante, EB Magalona.
Col. Francisco Patrimonio, Army's 3rd Infantry Brigade commander, said that the incident happened around 7:30 p.m. on June 14.
He said 20 armed men believed to be NPA rebels under entered the farm and burned the tractor owned by Arturo Ledesma.
The armed men reportedly introduced themselves as NPA members and declared that they burned the tractor because its owner's failed to pay revolutionary tax.
Patrimonio said, the rebels fired their guns and hit timekeeper Christopher Gerza.
They stripped the farm's security guard of his M-16 rifle before leaving towards Barangay Cudangdang, EB Magalona.
Last May 31, a group of rebels burned two tractors of Jovie Gallo in Hacienda Riverside, Barangay San Isidro, EB Magalona allegedly due to non-payment of revolutionary tax.
Patrimonio condemned both atrocities by the NPA rebels.
Lt. Col. Nathaniel Villasor, Civil Military Operations officer of the 3rd Infantry Division, called the rebels' action as "anti-progress" as it affected not only the livelihood of landowners but also the farmers.
He said the burning of the tractor is also a desperate act on the part of the rebels because "they are losing the support of the masses and they can no longer force the landowners to give in to their demands for revolutionary taxes."
Villasor said that they are now studying the request of Lacson to set up a military detachment in the town.
Published in the Sun.Star Bacolod newspaper on June 17, 2011.
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