NPA admit to Hedcor bombing

THE Leonardo Pacsi Command of the New People's Army or NPA operating in Mountain Province admitted to bombing the Sabangan sub-station of the Hydro-Electric Development Corporation (HEDCOR) Inc.

In a statement, the NPA alleged that the local government of Sabangan earlier requested Hedcor for assistance in developing their local water resources to build a mini-hydro under the build-operate-transfer scheme of the reactionary government in the year 1989.

The rebels said “Hedcor took advantage of this supported by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act

and the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 which opened the natural energy resources fo profitable business favoring independent power producers (IPP).”

Sun*Star Baguio sources revealed on the night of October 10, ten fully armed men held at gun point two on duty Hedcor security guards at the plant’s tapping point.

The armed men then planted an Improvised Explosive Device and detonated it causing a single explosions resulting to damage the control room of the sub-station.

The firearms of the on duty security guards were also allegedly taken by the suspects but released as the men left on foot towards Madepdepas Data in Sabangan town.

The NPA statement stressed “Hedcor used its well-oiled machinery in connivance with the local government units and agencies in rigging the process of getting the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of some stakeholders in 2011 with only the 2 host communities namely Napua and Namatec took part, while the downstream and upstream communities who similarly have the right to their ancestral domain and the watershed were not consulted.”

Hedcor has since denounced the bombing and is set to answer the allegations of the rebel group.