Suspected leftist rebels kill company executive in S. Philippines

Suspected leftist rebels killed an executive of a banana exporting firm late Monday in southern Philippines, just two days after the rebel group torched five trucks of another company, police said Tuesday.

The victim, 51-year-old Ruperto Alag Jr., operations manager of Basahamas Banana Company, was sitting inside his car parked on roadside in Davao City late Monday waiting for his companion when the suspects appeared and shot him, said Chief Inspector Alfredo Baloran, a local police commander.

Alag, who sustained a gunshot wound in the head, was declared dead on arrival at the Southern Philippines Medical Center.

Police are still investigating the case to determine the motive of the killers.

On July 31, about 30 New People's Army (NPA) rebels staged an attack on Dole-Stanfilco company in New Bataan town, in Mindanao's Compostela Valley province, torching five of the firm's trucks.

The NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been waging a guerrilla campaign in the countryside for four decades. Military estimates the NPA strength at more than 4,000 men scattered in more than 60 guerrilla fronts throughout the country.

Peace talks between the government and the leftists bogged down after the United States included the NPA and its parent body as foreign terrorist organizations in 2002.

Source: Xinhua