PCCI exec cautions Negros businesses vs. ‘NPA’ extortion, scams

A key official of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce of Industry (PCCI) urged businessmen in Negros Oriental to take extra precaution when receiving scam texts or purported extortion messages from people claiming to be New People’s Army (NPA) members.

Dumaguete City-based businessman Edward Du, the Central Visayas PCCI regional director, in a phone interview, said that some business owners in the province have claimed to receive extortion demands through text messages or letters purportedly from the NPA.

Du, who is also past president of the Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NOCCI), said that while none of the 200 members of their group had received extortion demands, reports have reached authorities that other members of the business sector received text messages or letters demanding money as “revolutionary tax”.
He said that the NOCCI is willing to help non-members in this regard, as he advised them to report immediately to proper authorities if they feel that they are being scammed or if an unknown entity is extorting money from them.

“I told them during a security forum Tuesday that to document these extortion activities and even turn their phones off for at least three days while the police and military are tracing the source/location of the calls and text messages,” Du said.

He called on the businessmen not to fall prey to extortion activities, citing that the Anti-Terrorism Law specifically states that it is a crime to extend assistance, solicited or otherwise, to groups such as the NPA, who threaten the “very core of democracy” and the local peace and order in the community.

Du and other members of the business community signed a “Manifest of Commitment of Peace” during the Business Development Forum organized by the Legal Cooperation Cluster of the Negros Oriental Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict and the Negros Oriental Micro, Small, Medium Enterprise Development Council in Dumaguete on Tuesday.

The document reads in part: “We, the peace-loving and responsible members of the business community, condemn all forms of violence and commit ourselves to end all armed hostilities…”

Nimfa Virtucio, provincial director of the Department of Trade and Industry in Negros Oriental, said the security forum aimed to address concerns of the supposed extortion activities affecting local business entrepreneurs.

Brig. Gen. Noel Baluyan, commander of the 302nd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army based in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental, said in the forum that they already put in place security measures to protect the business sector from such threat.*