Suspected rebels torch two buses

Suspected rebels torch two buses

PAMPANGA, Philippines (DPA): Suspected communist rebels burned two passenger buses in the northern Philippines reportedly to protest a recent increase in oil prices, police said yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Edgar Aglipay, regional police director, said suspected New People's Army rebels burned the buses on Wednesday inside the Alladin Bus Company compound in San Fernando town, 45 kilometers north of Manila.

Militant groups have led protest actions in the region to express strong opposition to the recent increase in oil prices. Prices of gasoline and other petroleum products were raised by as much as 50 centavos (US$.02) per liter on Wednesday.

Government and communist negotiators resumed peace talks in The Hague in June, a year after negotiations had collapsed in Belgium. The talks are aimed at ending more than 20 years of communist insurgency.