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BAGUIO CITY: The military’s North Luzon Command has
blamed the New Peoples Army for burning three elementary school
buildings in Natonin town in Mountain Province on January 14.
Lt. Gen. Bonifacio Ramos, Nolcom
commander, said the NPA rebels under the leadership of Simeon “Ka
Filiw” Naogsan burned the three schoolbuildings allegedly after
the school principal refused to donate a huge amount to the
underground movement.
But a reliable source from the
Mountain Province, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described as
pure lies the statement of Nolcom. He, however, declined to
elaborate further, saying the underground movement is expected to
counter the claims of the military.
The source cited a previous news
report that no less than Naogsan expressed his desire for the
national government to support the award of more or less five
hectares of land at Banao-Tonglayan barangays in Natonin for the
establishment of government community-based projects such as college
annex and provincial annex of the Technical Education Skills and
Development Authority.
According to the Nolcom release,
the NPA sometime in November 2006 demanded the school principal to
donate an amount to the movement but the principal refused due to
budgetary constraints.
As a result, the NPA rebels,
Nolcom said, burned the three schoolbuildings of Tonglayan
Elementary School.
No less than Nolcom reported that
Naogsan denied being responsible for the conflagration and instead,
pointed to the police as the perpetrators.
“He [Naogsan] claimed that they
were even the first to respond to the fire but the lack of water
[cut off before the arson] prevented them from doing so,” reads
the Nolcom report.
It was reported that Arroyo is
being requested for a P120-million package fund for three depressed
towns of Natonin, Paracelis and Barlig in Mountain Province as a
precondition for a peace process between the government and the NPA
based in the province.
--Harley Palangchao
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