By Francis Allan L. Angelo

 

THE New People’s Army (NPA) bombed a cellsite of Globe Telecom in Negros Occidental over the weekend to force the firm to pay P88 million in “back revolutionary taxes.”

 

The latest bombing happened at Brgy. Mabini, Escalante City Saturday afternoon which destroyed P2-million cellsite tower of Globe.

 

Based on police reports from Escalante City, the NPA has threatened to bomb the Escalante cellsite if the telecom giant fails to pay revolutionary taxes. The threats came true over the weekend.

 

Escalante police chief Santiago Rapiz said the rebels used an improvised explosive device on the cellsite.

 

The blast wrecked the power room and the perimeter fence of the cellsite, investigators said.

 

This is the second time that the Escalante City cellsite was bombed, the first one was in 2003.

 

Capt. Lowen Gil Marquez, chief of the AFP Civil Relations Service in Western Visayas, confirmed the P88-million demanded by the NPA from Globe.

 

Marquez said the bombing is also part of rebel operations relative to the upcoming anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front December 26.