TUBLAY, Benguet Police officials on Tuesday assured mining companies operating in the Cordillera region that they are safe from attacks by communist rebels.
Supt. Jesus Cambay, intelligence and investigation chief of the Cordillera regional police, made the assurance amid reports of unusual rebel movements" along the Benguet-Ifugao boundaries.
Several mining prospects are being processed in the northern side of Benguet, notably in the towns of Kapangan and Bakun. Benguet province also hosts two of the oldest and biggest mining firms in the country Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company in mineral-rich Mankayan town and Philex Mining Corporation in Tuba town.
Lepanto, whose diamond drilling equipment was torched by rebels in the 80s, is the oldest and biggest producer of gold and copper in the country. It is also processing other mining applications in partnership with other firms in other provinces in the Cordillera.
Speculations of possible rebel attacks heightened following an attack by communist New Peoples Army (NPA) attack on foreign-backed Sagittarius Mines, Inc. last weekend in three Mindanao provinces
It was the second attack on the project in South Cotabato province. Last New Years Day, the exploration base camp of Sagittarius in the town of Tampakan was also attacked by communist rebels, who burned buildings and equipment worth at least P12 million.
Cambay said New Peoples Army (NPA) guerillas in the region may be capable of launching violent attacks but said government forces - police and military- are on their toes and pre-emptive measures are being conducted to deter attacks by any armed groups against mining operations.
Chief Supt. Eugene Martin, Cordillera police director, likewise assured that security forces are in place in Lepanto and elsewhere. There is nothing to worry about in the region," he said.
He also warned rebels of a backlash from communities benefiting from mining operations if these are disrupted. They have nothing to gain, other than negative image from the people," Martin asserted.
In September last year, the intelligence community monitored a possible rebel attack" against Lepanto mines in Mankayan town amid the reports that rebels were massing up along the Ilocos Sur-Abra-Mountain Province borders, which is near the big mining firm.
Two years ago, some 100 rebels believed to have come from other Cordillera provinces attacked a paramilitary detachment in Mankayan, killing 3 paramilitary men and carting away four dozens of high-powered firearms from the government arsenal.
The Martin Montana Command of the CPP-NPA in the Ilocos and Cordillera regions claimed the attack was a punitive strike" against government forces protecting Lepantos operations and abusing local residents opposing them.
The attack, he also added, also served as a "fair warning" to Lepanto, which had been blamed for polluting the rivers downstream Benguet, Ilocos Sur and Abra provinces. - GMANews.TV