DAVAO CITY – Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio condemned the burning of heavy equipment on Saturday, calling it an act of terrorism.
“The attacks were downright cowardly and indicate that the NPA (New People’s Army) is nothing but a terrorist group that deserves our collective rejection and condemnation,” the mayor said in a press statement Monday.
Duterte-Carpio said, “The NPA’s revolution is one designed to undermine our democracy and development through its brand of egregious violence and extremism.
The mayor counted 10 heavy equipment with estimated damage at PHP65 million that were set on fire by the NPA simultaneously in Barangay Callawa in Buhangin, Fatima in Paquibato, and Barangay Dalagdag in Calinan.
She said the attacks temporarily stalled the bypass road projects being implemented by the city and the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to end the condition of chronic poverty in the areas.
The mayor pointed out that the road projects could make the delivery of other basic services to the people faster — including health, education, agricultural development and livelihood.
The said projects could change the lives of the people for the better, she added.
Duterte-Carpio said the fresh atrocities revealed the NPA’s real intention for people to continue living in poverty, which it could use as a capital in its propaganda against the government and justify its presence in the communities where its influence and significance are waning.
“And while at it, it is worth noting how this group’s recent attacks were also carried out as a retaliatory action to the refusal of the construction companies involved in the projects to give in to the pressure of extortion by the NPA,” she said.
But the mayor assured that the military and the police are now taking appropriate actions on the incidents.
The NPA on Saturday launched simultaneous attacks on Saturday night in Dalagdag, Calinan; Fatima, Paquibato District; and, Callawa, Buhangin District here. (Lilian C. Mellejor/PNA)
