ILOILO CITY - Suspected communist rebels bombed a cell site of Globe Telecom in Tubungan town in Iloilo near midnight on Sunday, causing major damage to the facility.

At least 10 heavily armed men who introduced themselves as New People's Army rebels disarmed the cell site's two security guards of their .38 caliber pistols around 11:30 p.m. in Barangay Ambarihon, Tubungan that is around 41 km south of Iloilo City.

Lt. Col. Nestor Porlucas, commander of the Army's 79th Infantry Battalion, said in a telephone interview that the rebels tied the guards' hands and ordered them to leave the facility. Barangay Captain Alejandro de la Villa Sr. said in a radio interview that the rebels gave a flashlight to the security guards before they were sent off.

The rebels detonated three improvised bombs 20 minutes after the guards left. The explosion destroyed the generator set and control panel of the site but did not damage the tower.

Porlucas said the explosion was strong enough to damage the concrete fence surrounding the 40x20-meter facility. Government troops recovered detonating wires reaching 200 meters long.

The cell site is around 5 kms from the municipal hall which was also attacked and briefly held by NPA rebels in 2005.

Porlucas said the rebels belonged to the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA's Southern Front Committee led by Lahum Camriosa alias Ka Bibong which operates in the towns of Leon, Tubungan, Miag-ao and Igbaras. They are believed to have fled towards the hinterland villages of Guimbal and Igbaras towns. He said the attack could be part of the rebels' actions against the company for refusing to pay their "revolutionary taxes." The rebels in previous statements have justified the attacks against firms saying companies that operate within their area should pay "taxes."

Jones Campos, Globe assistant vice-president for public relations, said they they have refused to give in to rebel demands to pay these fees. "We only pay taxes to the government," he said in a telephone interview.

The blasts damaged equipment costing hundreds of thousands of pesos, according to Campos. But he said what is important is that their security guards are safe.

A new cell site costs between P5-P10 million depending on the location of the facility. Campos said the damage would be lesser because the tower was not damage.

"It's unfortunate that this happened . But this is part of the risks in our operations and we hope the police will get the perpetrators," said Campos.

Campos said company engineers are rushing to inspect the extent of the damage and restore its operations. The blast could disrupt the signal of Globe subscribers from two to three days within a 5-kilometer radius.

NPA rebels have attacked several mostly Globe cell sites in the past few years including around five this year.

Campos said he has already asked the Armed Force of the Philippines and Philippine National Police for security of their cell sites. But he said they could not predict which of their 6,000 cell sites nationwide will be attacked.*NB

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