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Manila: Suspected Maoist-led guerrillas attacked a large banana plantation belonging to US food and fruit producer Dole Food Co in the southern Philippines and officials said on Thursday they feared more attacks on companies in the region.
Robert Juligao, warehouse manager of Dole Stanfilco, a unit of Dole Food Co and one of the largest banana farms on the troubled southern island of Mindanao, said Wednesday's attack, which destroyed packing equipment on the 11,000 hectare plantation, was the second this week.
The police suspect members of the New People's Army (NPA), which is waging one of the world's longest-running communist insurgencies and are opposed to foreign and local corporations exploiting natural resources in the country.
Although NPA numbers are declining, it continues to have a strong presence on mineral-rich southern Mindanao, where it often demands protection money or "revolutionary taxes" from companies that risk attack if they don't pay up.
"We're getting a lot of information about NPA rebels' plans to attack huge plantations, logging concessions and mining sites to punish companies that ignore extortion demands," Casimiro Medes, a spokesman for the regional police unit, said.
Last month, the NPA vowed to step up attacks on mine sites, plantations and logging companies, saying they were detrimental to the interests of the people.
Since the start of the year, three mining firms have been attacked by communist guerrillas in other parts of Mindanao after mine operators refused to be extorted.
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