[Gulf Today] Three Philippine soldiers were killed in a clash with New People's Army militants in Kalinga province in northern Luzon. The military said the slain troops were on patrol on Tuesday night when they clashed with the rebels in a mountain village.In a separate development, NPA militants raided the office of the Del Monte Philippines Incorporated pineapple plantation and set fire to vehicles and equipment in Tanglad City, Misamis Oriental. Police chief Arnold Gaabucayan said no injuries were reported in the attack but the militants torched, among others, a bulldozer and a Hummer-type vehicle before fleeing.
Gaabucayan suspected the raid could be in retaliation for the refusal of Del Monte officials to pay monthly "protection money" to the NPA, which is the armed component of the Communist Party of the Philippines that has waging a Maoist-style insurgency for more than 45 years, the longest in Asia and the Pacific.