TACLOBAN CITY, June 1 -- A group of businessmen
confirmed recent extortion threats in this city from a person claiming to be a
member of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Wilson Uy, president of Tacloban-Leyte chapter of
the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said on Wednesday that
business owners had been receiving threatening calls since early May from
someone claiming to be to be a communist rebel demanding for money.
A lot of businessmen fear that something bad may
happen to them if they won’t give in to demands, Uy said in an interview.
The suspect, who would introduce himself as Ronald,
has been using different mobile phone numbers in making the calls. p>The
police has yet to release information on how many people have reported the
threats or if there’s any money paid out.
City police chief Sr. Supt. Rolando Bade, Jr.,
believes there is no reason for businessmen in the city to panic. “In most
cases we have investigated, it has been found that the calls came from one
person only and there’s a possibility that he is not really an NPA, but someone
who just pretended to be one,” Bade said in an interview.
For Uy, whether the caller is a rebel or not, the
wave of alarm and fear cannot be denied. However, he asked his fellow
businessmen to remain calm and vigilant.
“We are training our businessmen here in the city
how to handle extortion calls. We want those victims and potential victims to
know how to protect themselves and to understand what to do if they are being
targeted,” Bade said.
The city police, needs public cooperation by
immediately reporting extortion incident and share information that would lead
to the arrest of suspects, said the police official. (Jazmin Bonifacio/PNA)
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