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INDAY SARA 'INSULTED'

80 NPA members raid plastic, food packing plants in Davao City


At least 80 members of the New People's Army (NPA) launched attacks in Davao City early Saturday.

The regional police office said the suspected NPA rebels attacked and torched the packing plant of the Lapanday Foods Corp. in Barangay Mandug at around 3:30 a.m.

In a statement, the NPA said members of the 1st Pulang Bagani Battalion launched the attack. It said "tactical offensives" against Lorenzo-owned companies and a ranch in the city started at around 2 a.m.

"The PBB's coordinated offensives served as punitive action against the Lorenzos for their numerous crimes against agricultural workers, peasants and Lumad," the NPA said.

It said among those attacked were the Lapanday Foods Corp.'s packing plant in Mandug and the Macondray Plastic Plant in Barangay Bunawan.

The security guards at the two sites were disarmed and their firearms were seized by the rebels.

In a statement, city Mayor Inday Sara Duterte said the NPA's attacks were "a personal insult especially because the local government of Davao City has been supportive of the peace negotiations between the national government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the political umbrella that covers the armed guerrilla movement."

"And because I have repeatedly offered to talk peace with the members of the NPA within Davao City," added President Rodrigo Duterte's daughter.

The attacks happened amid the ongoing peace talks between the government and the communist rebels.

Duterte assured the public that the military and police forces in the city are on top of the situation.

She, meanwhile, urged the public to "support our police and the military by openly condemning the NPA as a terrorist organization." —Anna Felicia Bajo/ALG, GMA News

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