Robert Juligao, warehouse manager of Dole Stanfilco assigned in Makilala town in North Cotabato, said the burning in Barangay Luvimin here was the second attack against the company since Monday.
On Monday night, suspected New Peoples’ Army (NPA) operating in North Cotabato torched a sprayer truck that the company also owns, in Barangay Kisante, Makilala.
The mobile mini-packing plant burned midnight, was worth P200,000. The equipment could process at least 180 boxes of bananas a day and was operated by seven persons, Juligao said.
The machine was placed in Barangay Luvimin, a kilometer away from the highway in Kidapawan City.
The company is clueless as to who set the equipment on fire.
Juligao dismissed as baseless the report that their workers or the residents in the community were behind it.
“I don’t think there’s truth to it. In fact, we still need more workers because we’re at peak season. We hire as many workers in the community as possible. Also, our workers are given the benefits and incentives that they deserve,” said Juligao.
The Front 51 of the NPA operating in Makilala, Kidapawan, and Magpet areas, was tagged to be behind the torching of sprayer truck last Monday in Makilala, according to Chief Supt. Casimiro Medes of the PNP regional information office based in General Santos City.
Medes said the communist guerillas had been extorting ‘protection money’ or ‘revolutionary taxes’ from the company. (MindaNews)
