Rebels Burn Dole Equipment in Southern Philippines

By Luzi Ann Javier

July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Suspected communist rebels burned equipment owned by the Philippine unit of Dole Food Co., the world's largest fresh-fruit and vegetable producer, and planted a landmine that killed three villagers, a military spokesman said.

The rebels, probably from the New People's Army, broke into a Dole plant in North Cotabato province on the island of Mindanao at 5:30 a.m. today and destroyed the equipment, Armand Rico, a military spokesman, said today. Carlito Ona, general manager at Dole's office in Davao City, did not return a call seeking comment.

The army this week deployed an extra 500 troops to Mindanao after rebels attacked Xstrata Plc's Tampakan mine project, forcing the world's fourth-largest copper producer to suspend work on the $3 billion venture. The communist insurgents, battling for almost four decades, often target overseas-owned businesses.

Dole Philippines, which grows bananas, ``exploited the Filipino workforce,'' by replacing regular staff with contract labor, according to a June 26 statement on the Philippine Revolution Web site, which carries postings from the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA, its armed wing. ``The moribund character of capitalism has placed workers at the losing end,'' the statement said.

The rebels may have attacked the Dole facility after the company refused to pay a so-called ``revolutionary tax,'' Rico said by phone from Davao City. The owners of Tampakan may have faced similar demands, Rico said earlier this week.

The three villagers were killed as they responded to the rebels' attack this morning, Rico said today. The landmine had been left outside the plant's gate, he said.

The additional military forces on Mindanao would enable the New People's Army to have ``more targets for cherry-picking enemy forces,'' according to a July 23 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Manila at ljavier@bloomberg.net