The communist New People's Army (NPA) said yesterday that it will investigate reports of hostage-taking by some of its guerrillas in Central Philippines even as the army charged the NPA was executing government spies, suspected of being military "deep penetration'' agents.

In a radio interview, Gregorio Rosal, NPA spokesman, said he will ask guerrilla commanders in Central Philippines' Bicol province to verify the government's allegations that a group of rebels held hostage 11 workers of a power firm in Catanduanes province on Friday and released them late Sunday after their employer paid P50,000 to the communists.

"We got information of the incident only through the radio and the newspaper," noted Rosal.

The rebel spokesman, however, claimed that the Communist Party of the Philippines, the NPA's ideological arm, "would not resort to kidnap-for-ransom activities" as these are against their principles.

Philippine Army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Jose Mabanta, also insisted that the Catanduanes incident was a clear case of kidnap-for-ransom.

"We can clearly see that the NPA has resorted to adding finances to their coffers. We dare say that they are more ruthless than the Abu Sayyaf," Lt. Col. Mabanta said as he referred to the Southern Philippines-based rebel group that gained notoriety for abducting non-combatants and releasing them after their victims' families paid ransom.

Lt. Col. Mabanta stated that the NPA has a history of extorting money from civilians.

According to reports, the communist guerrillas on Friday took the power firm workers at gunpoint while they were laying electrical cables in Catanduanes' municipality of Pandan.