Asia-Pacific News

Communist rebels burn business for non-payment of "war tax"

Mar 1, 2011, 6:29 GMT

Manila - Communist rebels Tuesday attacked a fruit-trading firm in the southern Philippines, burning several pieces of equipment because it had not paid a 'revolutionary tax,' a regional military spokesman said.

The guerrillas swooped down after midnight on the compound of Sumifru Corporation, in Malaybalay town in Bukidnon province, 855 kilometres south of Manila.

Lieutenant Colonel Leopoldo Galon said among the equipment destroyed were two sprayer trucks, a water tanker and a container van.

'The motive behind the attack was the failure of the company to pay the revolutionary tax,' Galon said. 'No one was injured in the attack.'

Communist rebels have been fighting the government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.

Government and rebel negotiators last month resumed peace talks after they were stalled for more than six years.

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