Heavy equipment torched in Albay

LEGAZPI CITY --- An unidentified group burned two heavy equipment engaged in a government road widening project in Daraga town in Albay on Friday (Feb. 14) night.

Lt. Col Rodelon Betita, Daraga police chief, said the torched road equipment vehicles were a dump truck and a backhoe of the Verzontal Builders Inc., reportedly owned by Dennis Macandog of the same town.

The sketchy report said the incident happened around 7:20 PM in the adjoining villages of Lacag and Pandan.

The attackers first set on fire the dump truck parked on the side road of Barangay Lacag. They then burned the backhoe in Barangay Pandan, some 300 meters away from where the dump truck was located.

In an interview, Betita said they are still determining the identities of the group, saying “we are not discounting the fact that the New People’s Army (NPA) could be behind the burning incident.”

He, however, said the initial investigation showed the owner of Verzontal has not received a threat or a demand for revolutionary tax from the NPA or from other groups.

Verzontal Builders had been commissioned by the government to implement the road widening project in said villages. (PNA)