Suspected NPA rebels torch sugar mill stations in Negros Occ

Suspected communist rebels torched Sunday trans-loading stations of two sugar milling companies in Negros Occidental.

ABS-CBN Network Regional Group said the attack resulted in an estimated P4 million worth of damages to the equipment of Victoria Milling Company and Lopez Sugar Company in Barangay San Jose, Toboso town in Negros Occidental.

Major Nathaniel Villasor, 303rd Infantry Brigade spokesman, said the attack of an estimated 50 suspected members of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, occurred around 11:30 p.m. Sunday.

The military said that after the rebels burned the equipment of the two sugar mills, the NPA left behind leaflets of the Pambansang Kaisahan ng mga Magbubukid (PKM-Negros).

Villasor said the group is an affiliate of the communist rebel movement.

Authorities suspect that the rebels destroyed the trans-loading stations after their owners refused to give "revolutionary taxes" to the rebel group.