About 80 armed men who reportedly identified themselves as New People's Army (NPA) rebels set fire to two tractors in Hacienda Gonzales in Barangay Andres Bonifacio in Cadiz City in Negros Occidental province Tuesday.

A witness to the incident, Eriberto Villegas, said that upon entering the hacienda, the armed men took the tractors to an area far away from residents' houses, then poured motor oil on the tractors and set them ablaze.

Villegas said he was not able to stop himself from crying when he witnessed the burning. He said it meant that there would be less jobs for farmers like him who depends on farming equipment for their livelihood.

Senior Police Officer 4 Raul Burton of Cadiz City police said that the incident could have been caused by refusal of the hacienda's owner, Lope Consing, to pay the rebels “revolutionary tax.”

Burton added that prior to the incident, the rebels had also torched sugarcane farms owned by Consing in Cadiz.

Cecilio Consing, assistant farm administrator, said that they had stopped paying “revolutionary taxes” because they could no longer afford the amounts demanded by the NPA.

It was estimated that the total damage to property was about P800,000.

The Philippine Army deployed soldiers to Hacienda Gonzales in order to secure the area.

* I don't know why this is happening. Instead of helping each other, this NPA are trying to worsen the livelihood of others. I just hope the government in some way would help this farmers affected so that they can continue their livelihood. *