MANILA -- Communist rebels have raided a gold mining company in the
southern Philippines and demanded weapons in exchange for releasing
three hostages.
Armed Forces spokesperson Major Eugene Osias said about 30 New
People's Army (NPA) rebels stormed into the VTO Mining company office in
Rosario tow, Agusan del Sur early Thursday and seized the owner's son
and two employees.
Guerrillas have in the past raided mining firms, destroying
equipment, and seized weapons as punishment for the companies' reported
environmental destruction and failure to meet the rebels' extortion
demands or pay "revolutionary taxes." However, they rarely demand ransom
for hostages.
Peace talks to end more than four decades of the rural-based
insurgency have stalled and recent efforts to revive them have failed.
The rebels are fighting for a Marxist state.
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SunStar.Com.Ph | July 5, 2012 | Article Link
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