Army foils NPA arson attack in Maasim town

SARANGANI --- Soldiers foiled Wednesday an attempt by New People’s Army guerillas to burn the equipment of a construction firm building a road network in Maasim town.

Personnel of the Army’s 37^th Infantry Battalion patrolling near the project site in Barangay Bales in Maasim, Sarangani, noticed the NPAs approaching the backhoe and dump trucks of the Charifer Builders, enabling them to prevent the attack.

Local leaders told reporters three NPAs, initially identified only as Zaide, Crisanto and Ramon, were reportedly wounded in the ensuing gunfight.

Major Gen. Diosdado Carreon, commander of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division, said Thursday the soldiers found in the scene of the encounter a magazine for an AK-47 assault rifle and other combat provisions the NPAs left as they fled in haste.

In a report to Carreon, Lt. Col. Allen Van Estrera of 37^th IB said the rebels who tried but failed to sabotage the road project in Barangay Bales is led by the wanted Johnny Casamorin of the NPAs self-styled Far Southern Mindanao Region Command.

The group has a reputation for burning heavy equipment of private engineering outfits if owners refuse to pay “protection money” on a periodic basis.