NPA rebels raid mine, seize 3 men

MANILA — Communist rebels have raided a gold mining company in the southern Philippines and demanded weapons in exchange for releasing three hostages. Army spokesman Maj. Eugene Osias says about 30 New People’s Army rebels stormed into the VTO Mining company office in Agusan del Sur province’s Rosario township early Thursday and seized the owner’s son and two employees. Guerrillas have in the past raided mining firms, destroying equipment and seizing weapons as punishment for the companies’ reported environmental destruction and failure to meet the rebels’ extortion demands to pay them “revolutionary taxes.” But they rarely demand ransom for hostages. — AP