BACOLOD CITY, Philippines Communist rebels continued their series of attacks on mining facilities as they torched a bunk house of a drilling company at the mining facilities of Philex Gold Mines Corp. in Sipalay City.
1st Lt. Joselito Dalida, civil military operations chief of the 61st Infantry Battalion based in neighboring Cauayan town, said about 20 guerrillas of the New Peoples Army (NPA) set the facility on fire Wednesday night.
Damage was estimated at P1.5 million. No one was hurt during the incident, he said, but the NPA guerillas carted away the security guards service firearm and the employees cell phones and personal belongings.
Mr. Dalida said the rebels alleged that Philex, which contracted the United Philippines Drilling Corp. for its drilling operations, failed to pay revolutionary taxes. The mines are in Barangay Nabulao, Sipalay City, almost 180 kilometers north of this city. - BusinessWorld