Military recovers trucks, equipment seized by NPA from Caraga traders

DAVAO CITY — Government troops recovered last Tuesday three 10-wheeler trucks and a chainsaw, among other items, which the New People’s Army (NPA) had seized from traders in the Caraga region who refused to shell out "revolutionary taxes."

Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Obaniana, chief of the Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command, said the Army’s 36th Infantry Battalion was able to recover the 10-wheeler trucks and chainsaw from communist insurgents operating in Tagbina, Surigao del Sur.

"If (the traders) do not pay the revolutionary tax, they (rebels) seize whatever they could from them, especially important equipment," Obaniana said.

Col. Jose Vizcarra, commander of the Army 401st Infantry Brigade, said the rebels have been raking in huge sums from revolutionary taxes they extort from businessmen, including farmers and contractors, in northeastern Mindanao.

The recovery of the trucks and chainsaw came after government troops swooped down on two caves in Barangay Greenfields, Tagbina town where the rebels had kept their arsenal and made bombs. Lt. Col. Joel Madarang, commander of the 36th IB, said the caves had complete dental and medical equipment, including physical therapy machines.

Earlier seized in Tagbina were 142 plastic containers of superdyne dynamite and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

Obaniana said the discovery of the two caves dealt a major blow to the landmine capability of communist rebels in northeastern Mindanao.

Obaniana, who recently met with Army unit commanders in the Caraga region in Rosario, Agusan del Sur, said ground troops vowed to destroy a significant number of local communist commands.

"We will reduce them to an insignificant proportion so that peace and progress could set in," he said.