Communist rebels torch school after being refused children’s dinner money

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The New People’s Army took revenge after the school rebuffed their demand for “revolutionary tax”
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The punitive attack on the school comes as peace talks are being arranged

Communist guerrillas burned down a school after teachers refused to give them a share of the children’s dinner money.

The New People’s Army (NPA) attempted to extort “revolutionary tax” from the school in Valencia, Bukidnon, on Sunday. After staff refused to give them a share of a fund intended for a feeding programme for pupils, they torched the building.

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Yesterday it was reported that the NPA had fired at a plane spraying pesticides on a banana plantation in Tagbina town in Surigao, saying it served as a punitive action against “environmentally destructive aerial spraying”.

 

The pilot was forced to make an emergency landing, but was unhurt.

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The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is currently in talks with the government over oft-delayed peace talks, expected to resume next month. Among their demands are land reform and release of all “political prisoners”.

On Monday, supporters of the rebels brought traffic chaos to Quezon City with a “flash rally” to celebrate their 48th anniversary. To mark the occasion, it was announced a new group of younger leaders had been selected.

Yesterday, the self-exiled founder of the CCP, Jose Maria Sison, sent birthday greetings to President Duterte, his former college student. “I wish him the best of health so that he can serve the people as best as he can,” he said in an online message.

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