On August 28, 2008, the families, friends and relatives of the victims of Leyte mass killing commemorated the second anniversary of discovery of the victims’ mass grave. The case still remains a mystery up to this time. Until now the perpetrators of the heinous crime remain unpunished. The CPP and the AFP are still pointing their fingers at each other for the killing although it is generally conceded that there could be no other group or groups that are capable of committing such dastardly act. At least 100 human remains were exhumed in Sitio Sapang Dako, Barangay Kaulisihan in Inopacan, Leyte on August 26, 2006.
In Palawan, there were several killings of reported former NPA members and suspected military informers operating in the province. According to the Western Command, the victims were surrendeerees and suspected to be working as military informers. They were the following:
1.Paquito “PAKING” NOBLEZA, gunned down on May 13, 2004 in Bgy New Agutaya, San Vicente
2.Joel NAVIA, gunned down on March 05, 2003 in Bgy Concepcion, Puerto Princesa City;
3.Agustin “Tatay HUSTING” JAVAREZ, abducted and killed on January 11, 2003 in Bgy Marufinas, Puerto Princesa City;
4.Roger ALIMPIPINIG, gunned down on February 22, 2003 in Bgy Abaroan, Roxas;
5.Augusto ENGLIS @ KA AGOS, gunned down on November 19, 2002 in Bgy Babuyan, Puerto Princesa City;
6.Roming CABALLERO, gunned down on April 09, 2001 in Bgy Calategas, Narra; and
7. Roding CEMANEZ @ KA MORRIS, killed on April 2001 in Bgy Princess Urduja, Narra
For now, even without the aid of the court or an investigative body, speculation can be made as who the real culprits are since both the CPP and the AFP are capable of carrying out such crime. However, suspicion can be drawn why until today there is no effort on the part of human rights advocators such as the militant KARAPATAN to rally and initiate investigation on the issue if the military are indeed responsible for the massacre? Why they have been in silence since the discovery of the mass grave? They have been issuing statements disowning the crime but that is not enough to expunge suspicion that the communist rebels are not involved in the crime. KARAPATAN is a militant human rights advocate whose political lines closely run parallel to those of the local communist movement.
It has been strongly suspected that the communist rebels themselves did the killing. This suspicion can be substantiated by the established facts that the movement had previously undertaken multiple killing or “purging” to cleanse its own ranks from alleged “traitors” including the so-called “deep penetration agents” who had betrayed their comrades to the enemy. There is a big probability that the Leyte mass grave could be part of the movement’s alleged cleansing operations in the Visayas. As previously disclosed, the CPP/NPA reportedly undertook similar act when it implemented OPLANs Zombie, Cadena de Amor and Missing Link in Southern Tagalog; Ahos in Mindanao; and, Olympia in Metro Manila. The Party’s denial of “purging” was, however, refuted by previous testimonies and claims of former NPAs who returned to the fold of the law because of fear that they might become the next victim of CPP’s “purging” operations against suspected government’s deep penetration agents. The CPP’s alleged internal and widespread purgings are no longer a secret nowadays.
14.8.08
Military bares list of CPP-NPA-NDF “cleansing” victims
By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
6.6.06
TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte – The victims of the purging of the CPP-NPA-NDF Southern Leyte Front are not only from Inopacan but also in the different barangays of Baybay, Leyte.
This was learned from Lt. Col. Mario Lacurum who explained that the Garden which is how the NPA called the place is in the boundary of the towns of Inopacan, Baybay and Mahaplag, Leyte. This is the typical location of the communist rebels, to locate in the boundary of several towns where they have several escape routes.
Lt. Col Lacurom of the 43rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army observed that many of the victims have the same family names which reveal that they were relatives. Per information gathered from former NPA members, some of those who abducted the victims were their own relatives. It is really horrible what the NPA rebels did to the very same people they pledged to help and protect. Instead of making the lives of families easier, they destroyed them to the extent of making a member of the family betray the other members.
The victims whose names were given by the relatives or the residents or the NPA surrenderees some of whom saw how they were tortured to death by burning plastic and allowing it to melt on the bodies of the victims or by jumping on their breast, are from Barangays Monterico, Cabungaan, Maypatag, Ampihanon, Pansagan and Amguhan in the municipality of Baybay and Barangay Camansi in Inopacan town.
The partial list given to PIA includes the 21 purging victims from Barangay Monterico, Baybay, Leyte, namely: Domingo Eras who was identified by his brother, Leonarda Eras, Salvador Aviola, Juanita Aviola, Avelino Ayag, Victor Pasuhil, Concepcion Danguilles, Dome Napoles, Paquito Tronueva, Carlos Tronueva, Mode Seda, Tito Ayoc, Necoy Catibo, Mancito Solirmo, Constancio Fernandes, Normalito Eras, Marcia Abenoja, Rafael Pantoliaga, Anastacio Mayegue, Pedro Alberco and a certain Poncing.
From Barangay Cabungaan, Baybay, Leyte, the list of the victims include Leonardo Ballino, Lorenzo Pulta, Cirilo Albarico, Dicong Abilay, Felix Capillanes, Restituto Ejoc, Carlos Espejo, Jovencio Ballino, Rodolfo Marra, Angel Jomoc, Wenie Edace, Segundino Estellero, Balbino Rim, Reynaldo Capillanes, Roman Dedace, Apolonio Saldaga, Isias Laguardia, Rogelio Daniel, Toring Roluna, Zacarias Laguardia, Netoy Garciano and Floro Barcos.
The names of six victims from Barangay Maypatag, Baybay, Leyte were Tebora Prado, Zosemo Prado, Danilo Macajeto, Inying Tenaja, Ruel Tenaja and Gorio Tenaja.
From Barangay Amguhan, Baybay, Leyte, the list includes the following name of victims: Guellermo Daging, Junior Umbay, Junior Mellapes, Candoy Tenaja, Anatalio Marona, Zacarias Casil, Alfredo Umbay, Domingo Albarico, Lucricio Umbay, Jemmy Roluna, Patricio Devocion and Juanito Sayson.
Jose Cabonegro, Marcelino Tayabas, Danny Limpios and Tonny Baron are the names of the victims from Barangay Ampihanon, Baybay, Leyte while Netoy Garciano is the only victim from Pagsagan, Baybay, Leyte.
From Barangay Camansi in Inopacan, Leyte, three names were listed: Crispin Calmacio, Casito Casundo and a certain Bandoy.
The remains of the 67 victims exhumed from the Garden now lie in state at the San Isidro Labrador Catholic Chapel of Hibod-Hibod, Sogod, Southern Leyte.
6.6.06
TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte – The victims of the purging of the CPP-NPA-NDF Southern Leyte Front are not only from Inopacan but also in the different barangays of Baybay, Leyte.
This was learned from Lt. Col. Mario Lacurum who explained that the Garden which is how the NPA called the place is in the boundary of the towns of Inopacan, Baybay and Mahaplag, Leyte. This is the typical location of the communist rebels, to locate in the boundary of several towns where they have several escape routes.
Lt. Col Lacurom of the 43rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army observed that many of the victims have the same family names which reveal that they were relatives. Per information gathered from former NPA members, some of those who abducted the victims were their own relatives. It is really horrible what the NPA rebels did to the very same people they pledged to help and protect. Instead of making the lives of families easier, they destroyed them to the extent of making a member of the family betray the other members.
The victims whose names were given by the relatives or the residents or the NPA surrenderees some of whom saw how they were tortured to death by burning plastic and allowing it to melt on the bodies of the victims or by jumping on their breast, are from Barangays Monterico, Cabungaan, Maypatag, Ampihanon, Pansagan and Amguhan in the municipality of Baybay and Barangay Camansi in Inopacan town.
The partial list given to PIA includes the 21 purging victims from Barangay Monterico, Baybay, Leyte, namely: Domingo Eras who was identified by his brother, Leonarda Eras, Salvador Aviola, Juanita Aviola, Avelino Ayag, Victor Pasuhil, Concepcion Danguilles, Dome Napoles, Paquito Tronueva, Carlos Tronueva, Mode Seda, Tito Ayoc, Necoy Catibo, Mancito Solirmo, Constancio Fernandes, Normalito Eras, Marcia Abenoja, Rafael Pantoliaga, Anastacio Mayegue, Pedro Alberco and a certain Poncing.
From Barangay Cabungaan, Baybay, Leyte, the list of the victims include Leonardo Ballino, Lorenzo Pulta, Cirilo Albarico, Dicong Abilay, Felix Capillanes, Restituto Ejoc, Carlos Espejo, Jovencio Ballino, Rodolfo Marra, Angel Jomoc, Wenie Edace, Segundino Estellero, Balbino Rim, Reynaldo Capillanes, Roman Dedace, Apolonio Saldaga, Isias Laguardia, Rogelio Daniel, Toring Roluna, Zacarias Laguardia, Netoy Garciano and Floro Barcos.
The names of six victims from Barangay Maypatag, Baybay, Leyte were Tebora Prado, Zosemo Prado, Danilo Macajeto, Inying Tenaja, Ruel Tenaja and Gorio Tenaja.
From Barangay Amguhan, Baybay, Leyte, the list includes the following name of victims: Guellermo Daging, Junior Umbay, Junior Mellapes, Candoy Tenaja, Anatalio Marona, Zacarias Casil, Alfredo Umbay, Domingo Albarico, Lucricio Umbay, Jemmy Roluna, Patricio Devocion and Juanito Sayson.
Jose Cabonegro, Marcelino Tayabas, Danny Limpios and Tonny Baron are the names of the victims from Barangay Ampihanon, Baybay, Leyte while Netoy Garciano is the only victim from Pagsagan, Baybay, Leyte.
From Barangay Camansi in Inopacan, Leyte, three names were listed: Crispin Calmacio, Casito Casundo and a certain Bandoy.
The remains of the 67 victims exhumed from the Garden now lie in state at the San Isidro Labrador Catholic Chapel of Hibod-Hibod, Sogod, Southern Leyte.
12.8.08
Filipinos' search for missing may end in mass graves
By Manny Mogato
Reuters Limited
INOPACAN, Philippines, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The mountainous forests of Leyte island in the central Philippines look pristine from the air, but they hide a terrible secret.
Below the canopy of trees, shallow graves with the skeletal remains of 67 people have been unearthed. Up to 300 bodies could be buried in the sticky mud, the military says.
The unidentified victims were murdered in the 1980s, purged by the communist New People's Army (NPA) on suspicion they were government spies or traitors to the Maoist cause, said Colonel Allan Ragpala, a brigade commander on Leyte island.
"We discovered these graves by accident," he told dozens of generals, local officials and journalists during an Aug. 31 visit to the site, about 400 km (250 miles) southeast of Manila.
"This was like the killing fields in Cambodia on a much smaller scale."
Marcelina Tronoyba said she was 12 years old when her mother answered the door one night in 1985. Several armed men burst in and took the woman away for what they said was a brief chat.
That was the last time Tronoyba saw her mother.
"We're not sure yet whether she was among those buried here," said Tronoyba, who now has eight children of her own. "We're still hoping and praying she is still alive somewhere."
TATTERED SHIRT
The NPA leadership has admitted killing and torturing thousands of its members in the late 1980s during a split over ideology in an insurgency that has raged across the developing and largely rural Southeast Asian country since the late 1960s.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has declared "all-out war" against the communist rebels to try to end a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and kept investors wary.
The government says the NPA is in the midst of a fresh purge and has murdered dozens of left-wing activists this year.
The communists deny the allegation. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, are concerned that the military and police are behind the shootings. Many of the recent victims were members of groups viewed by the military as NPA fronts.
The mass graves were discovered in the Sapang Daku mountains amid these accusations -- and after an alleged coup plot in February against Arroyo by rogue soldiers, political foes and communists.
Ragpala said several residents and former communist rebels told the military about the graves after hundreds of soldiers began combing the area in a major push against the NPA.
After a week of digging at the end of August, soldiers and villagers had exhumed 67 skeletons from mountain slopes reached by a five-hour trek on narrow jungle trails.
A forensics team from the local police has helped to gather bones to establish identities, which could take months through DNA testing in the Philippines or the United States.
"Based on our initial findings, these graves were more than 20 years old," said Angel Cordero, head of the forensics team. "Most of these skulls were men, three were women and one was from a minor. They died from either hack or stab wounds."
To journalists flown to the site in army helicopters, Cordero pointed out some fractured skulls showing signs they were hit by blunt objects, sharp knives or razors. Some of the victims were blindfolded.
"We found nine skulls wrapped by tattered cotton cloth and nylon material," Cordero said. "In some of the graves, only 2 to 3 feet deep, we found as many as five or six skeletal remains."
Domingo Eras, a 43-year-old farmer from nearby Baybay town, was shocked to see a tattered shirt that was very similar to the one worn by his older brother, an NPA rebel, the last time the two saw each other in 1985.
"That day when armed men took my brother away flashed back to my mind," said Eras, who acknowledged having sympathised with the rebels in the 1980s.
Eras, who claimed he lost a younger brother in a battle with soldiers in the 1990s, said people in the area had heard about the graves, known among the rebels as "The Garden", but were not sure whether it was army propaganda.
LOOKING FOR CLOSURE
General Hermogenes Esperon, the military's chief of staff, said the mass graves he saw on Leyte were similar to those found in the 1990s in the provinces of Quezon and Laguna, south of Manila, and on the southern island of Mindanao.
Rebels, sympathisers and ordinary civilians were kidnapped, tortured and killed by special teams of NPA guerrillas when leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines launched the purge in the 1980s.
"We can only make estimates but we believe nearly 2,000 people were killed in the most animalistic, barbaric and gruesome methods by these godless rebels," Esperon said.
The discovery of the graves was helping people see through the rebel deceptions and boosting efforts to defeat the communist insurgency by 2010, he said.
Peace talks, brokered by Norway, stalled in 2004 when Manila refused to help persuade the United States and some European nations to remove the NPA from terrorism blacklists.
"We grieve with those who continue to search for their missing loved ones," Esperon said. "We hope they could find the closure they've been looking for in the unmarked graves here."
In the 1990s, Zacarias Piedad rose to lead a 40-member NPA squad in the area but turned himself in to soldiers when his comrades tried to kill him three times.
"This area we used to call 'The Garden' was off-limits to all rebels except the most senior cadres," said Piedad, who now works for the local government.
Between sobs, Virginia Baron told of her father being taken when armed men rounded up residents in her village in 1985.
"We were told he would return to us in just three days," she told the gathering of local and military officials inspecting the graves. "We're still waiting for him to come home." (With reporting by Carmel Crimmins)
Reuters Limited
INOPACAN, Philippines, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The mountainous forests of Leyte island in the central Philippines look pristine from the air, but they hide a terrible secret.
Below the canopy of trees, shallow graves with the skeletal remains of 67 people have been unearthed. Up to 300 bodies could be buried in the sticky mud, the military says.
The unidentified victims were murdered in the 1980s, purged by the communist New People's Army (NPA) on suspicion they were government spies or traitors to the Maoist cause, said Colonel Allan Ragpala, a brigade commander on Leyte island.
"We discovered these graves by accident," he told dozens of generals, local officials and journalists during an Aug. 31 visit to the site, about 400 km (250 miles) southeast of Manila.
"This was like the killing fields in Cambodia on a much smaller scale."
Marcelina Tronoyba said she was 12 years old when her mother answered the door one night in 1985. Several armed men burst in and took the woman away for what they said was a brief chat.
That was the last time Tronoyba saw her mother.
"We're not sure yet whether she was among those buried here," said Tronoyba, who now has eight children of her own. "We're still hoping and praying she is still alive somewhere."
TATTERED SHIRT
The NPA leadership has admitted killing and torturing thousands of its members in the late 1980s during a split over ideology in an insurgency that has raged across the developing and largely rural Southeast Asian country since the late 1960s.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has declared "all-out war" against the communist rebels to try to end a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and kept investors wary.
The government says the NPA is in the midst of a fresh purge and has murdered dozens of left-wing activists this year.
The communists deny the allegation. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, are concerned that the military and police are behind the shootings. Many of the recent victims were members of groups viewed by the military as NPA fronts.
The mass graves were discovered in the Sapang Daku mountains amid these accusations -- and after an alleged coup plot in February against Arroyo by rogue soldiers, political foes and communists.
Ragpala said several residents and former communist rebels told the military about the graves after hundreds of soldiers began combing the area in a major push against the NPA.
After a week of digging at the end of August, soldiers and villagers had exhumed 67 skeletons from mountain slopes reached by a five-hour trek on narrow jungle trails.
A forensics team from the local police has helped to gather bones to establish identities, which could take months through DNA testing in the Philippines or the United States.
"Based on our initial findings, these graves were more than 20 years old," said Angel Cordero, head of the forensics team. "Most of these skulls were men, three were women and one was from a minor. They died from either hack or stab wounds."
To journalists flown to the site in army helicopters, Cordero pointed out some fractured skulls showing signs they were hit by blunt objects, sharp knives or razors. Some of the victims were blindfolded.
"We found nine skulls wrapped by tattered cotton cloth and nylon material," Cordero said. "In some of the graves, only 2 to 3 feet deep, we found as many as five or six skeletal remains."
Domingo Eras, a 43-year-old farmer from nearby Baybay town, was shocked to see a tattered shirt that was very similar to the one worn by his older brother, an NPA rebel, the last time the two saw each other in 1985.
"That day when armed men took my brother away flashed back to my mind," said Eras, who acknowledged having sympathised with the rebels in the 1980s.
Eras, who claimed he lost a younger brother in a battle with soldiers in the 1990s, said people in the area had heard about the graves, known among the rebels as "The Garden", but were not sure whether it was army propaganda.
LOOKING FOR CLOSURE
General Hermogenes Esperon, the military's chief of staff, said the mass graves he saw on Leyte were similar to those found in the 1990s in the provinces of Quezon and Laguna, south of Manila, and on the southern island of Mindanao.
Rebels, sympathisers and ordinary civilians were kidnapped, tortured and killed by special teams of NPA guerrillas when leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines launched the purge in the 1980s.
"We can only make estimates but we believe nearly 2,000 people were killed in the most animalistic, barbaric and gruesome methods by these godless rebels," Esperon said.
The discovery of the graves was helping people see through the rebel deceptions and boosting efforts to defeat the communist insurgency by 2010, he said.
Peace talks, brokered by Norway, stalled in 2004 when Manila refused to help persuade the United States and some European nations to remove the NPA from terrorism blacklists.
"We grieve with those who continue to search for their missing loved ones," Esperon said. "We hope they could find the closure they've been looking for in the unmarked graves here."
In the 1990s, Zacarias Piedad rose to lead a 40-member NPA squad in the area but turned himself in to soldiers when his comrades tried to kill him three times.
"This area we used to call 'The Garden' was off-limits to all rebels except the most senior cadres," said Piedad, who now works for the local government.
Between sobs, Virginia Baron told of her father being taken when armed men rounded up residents in her village in 1985.
"We were told he would return to us in just three days," she told the gathering of local and military officials inspecting the graves. "We're still waiting for him to come home." (With reporting by Carmel Crimmins)
Reds launch another ambush in Palawan
THE New People's Army (NPA) launched another major offense on the duration of the Arroyo government yuletide season truce with the communists, ambushing Marine troops anew in Palawan province Saturday night.
This is the fourth offense to be staged by the rebels during the government truce. The first was when the communists killed three unarmed Marine soldier also in an ambush in Palawan.
Marine spokesman Jonas Lumawag said the latest rebel attack against troops from the 69th Marine Company occurred at 8 p.m. Saturday in Barangay Dumarao in Roxas town, Palawan.
He said the troops were on a re-supply mission to Puerto Princesa City when an undetermined number of rebels waylaid them.
A soldier was wounded in the ambush and was declared out of danger by physicians, said Lumawag.
Lumawag said the troops were able to put up a fight against their attackers who withdrew after sustaining undetermined number of casualties.
Pursuit operations are ongoing against the fleeing rebels, he said.
The attack came three days after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) marked its 39th foundation anniversary.
NPA rebels traditionally celebrate the anniversary CPP -- the NPA's political wing -- with attacks.
Also, the attack came as the communist movement is due to observe starting Monday a two-day New Year truce with the government.
The communists have observed a two-day Christmas truce, starting last December 24.
The Arroyo government has declared a 22-day ceasefire with the rebels, starting last December 16.
Hours after the ceasefire took effect, NPA rebels ambushed three Marine soldiers in San Vicente town, Palawan, killing all of them.
The rebels have staged two other attacks during the government truce, including the raid of a police station in Eastern Samar that left a militiaman dead last December 23.
The rebels carted away a cache of firearms from the police station.
Last December 26, NPA rebels burned two heavy equipment involved in the construction of market roads in San Francisco town in Quezon due to the failure of the town mayor, who owns the equipment, to pay revolutionary tax to the rebels. (VR/Sunnex)
This is the fourth offense to be staged by the rebels during the government truce. The first was when the communists killed three unarmed Marine soldier also in an ambush in Palawan.
Marine spokesman Jonas Lumawag said the latest rebel attack against troops from the 69th Marine Company occurred at 8 p.m. Saturday in Barangay Dumarao in Roxas town, Palawan.
He said the troops were on a re-supply mission to Puerto Princesa City when an undetermined number of rebels waylaid them.
A soldier was wounded in the ambush and was declared out of danger by physicians, said Lumawag.
Lumawag said the troops were able to put up a fight against their attackers who withdrew after sustaining undetermined number of casualties.
Pursuit operations are ongoing against the fleeing rebels, he said.
The attack came three days after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) marked its 39th foundation anniversary.
NPA rebels traditionally celebrate the anniversary CPP -- the NPA's political wing -- with attacks.
Also, the attack came as the communist movement is due to observe starting Monday a two-day New Year truce with the government.
The communists have observed a two-day Christmas truce, starting last December 24.
The Arroyo government has declared a 22-day ceasefire with the rebels, starting last December 16.
Hours after the ceasefire took effect, NPA rebels ambushed three Marine soldiers in San Vicente town, Palawan, killing all of them.
The rebels have staged two other attacks during the government truce, including the raid of a police station in Eastern Samar that left a militiaman dead last December 23.
The rebels carted away a cache of firearms from the police station.
Last December 26, NPA rebels burned two heavy equipment involved in the construction of market roads in San Francisco town in Quezon due to the failure of the town mayor, who owns the equipment, to pay revolutionary tax to the rebels. (VR/Sunnex)
Cop, 2 children die in NPA ambush in Palawan
By Marlon Ramos
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 02:28pm (Mla time) 08/21/2007
CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna -- Two children, 13 and 7, and a member of an anti-insurgency police unit were killed while three other persons were critically wounded when suspected communist rebels ambushed a police vehicle in Taytay town, Palawan afternoon, police said Friday.
Senior Superintendent Dennis Peña, Palawan police director, identified the casualties as Police Officer 3 Saturnino Lazo, Jennifer Cortez, 13, and her sister Anne-anne.
Wounded were Police Officer 1 Walter Gapuz, the children’s mother Nilda Cortez, and another sister, Beverly, 9.
Ludegario Cortez, the children’s father, escaped unscathed.
Cortez and family had hitched a ride with the policemen before the ambush.
Peña said two other policemen who were earlier reported missing have surfaced and have reported to their unit, the 413rd Provincial Police Mobile Group (PPMG), also in Taytay town.
Police Officers 2 Johnnyver Abanto and Edgardo Sanchez were found by village officials in a ravine near the ambush site.
“Apparently, my men hid and stayed there until they were found by the barangay [village] officials. They then immediately went to a nearby detachment of the Philippine Marines in Taytay,” he said in a mobile phone interview with the Inquirer.
Peña condemned the attack, saying it only proved the real character of the New People’s Army (NPA).
He also said that the band of rebels who staged the ambuscade could have been composed of young NPA fighters “as shown by what they did.”
He said it was uncommon for the NPA rebels to fire at government troops if it endangered a nearby civilian population.
Peña also said it was “uncharacteristic” for the guerrillas not to wipe out their targets when they are able to control the higher ground in an ambush site.
The rebels also did not gather the assault rifles of the slain and wounded police officers.
Peña said that before the attack, the policemen had driven to Barangay Calauag to check on a report that residents had found an abandoned motorcycle in the area. When they arrived in the village, they located the motorcycle and loaded it into their police vehicle.
On their way back to their detachment, the policemen chanced upon Cortez and his family, who asked to be given a ride to a nearby village. But before the family could reach their destination, around 15 to 20 suspected communist rebels fired at the police vehicle.
Peña said Anne-anne was hit on the head and killed instantly.
“The girl was beyond recognition as bullets literally shattered her head,” he said.
Peña said Lazo was able to fire back at the rebels despite his bullet wounds.
A few minutes later, the rebels retreated, leaving behind the firearms of the slain policemen, he added.
Peña said the police had already airlifted the wounded to a hospital in Puerto Princesa City.
He said they are still investigating if the motorcycle was intentionally abandoned in the area by the NPA as part of their plan to attack the government troops.
He also said that the village official who supposedly phoned the police detachment to report the discovery of the abandoned motorcycle denied that he had called for police assistance.
“It could be part of the plot of the NPA to ambush our policemen,” Peña said.
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 02:28pm (Mla time) 08/21/2007
CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna -- Two children, 13 and 7, and a member of an anti-insurgency police unit were killed while three other persons were critically wounded when suspected communist rebels ambushed a police vehicle in Taytay town, Palawan afternoon, police said Friday.
Senior Superintendent Dennis Peña, Palawan police director, identified the casualties as Police Officer 3 Saturnino Lazo, Jennifer Cortez, 13, and her sister Anne-anne.
Wounded were Police Officer 1 Walter Gapuz, the children’s mother Nilda Cortez, and another sister, Beverly, 9.
Ludegario Cortez, the children’s father, escaped unscathed.
Cortez and family had hitched a ride with the policemen before the ambush.
Peña said two other policemen who were earlier reported missing have surfaced and have reported to their unit, the 413rd Provincial Police Mobile Group (PPMG), also in Taytay town.
Police Officers 2 Johnnyver Abanto and Edgardo Sanchez were found by village officials in a ravine near the ambush site.
“Apparently, my men hid and stayed there until they were found by the barangay [village] officials. They then immediately went to a nearby detachment of the Philippine Marines in Taytay,” he said in a mobile phone interview with the Inquirer.
Peña condemned the attack, saying it only proved the real character of the New People’s Army (NPA).
He also said that the band of rebels who staged the ambuscade could have been composed of young NPA fighters “as shown by what they did.”
He said it was uncommon for the NPA rebels to fire at government troops if it endangered a nearby civilian population.
Peña also said it was “uncharacteristic” for the guerrillas not to wipe out their targets when they are able to control the higher ground in an ambush site.
The rebels also did not gather the assault rifles of the slain and wounded police officers.
Peña said that before the attack, the policemen had driven to Barangay Calauag to check on a report that residents had found an abandoned motorcycle in the area. When they arrived in the village, they located the motorcycle and loaded it into their police vehicle.
On their way back to their detachment, the policemen chanced upon Cortez and his family, who asked to be given a ride to a nearby village. But before the family could reach their destination, around 15 to 20 suspected communist rebels fired at the police vehicle.
Peña said Anne-anne was hit on the head and killed instantly.
“The girl was beyond recognition as bullets literally shattered her head,” he said.
Peña said Lazo was able to fire back at the rebels despite his bullet wounds.
A few minutes later, the rebels retreated, leaving behind the firearms of the slain policemen, he added.
Peña said the police had already airlifted the wounded to a hospital in Puerto Princesa City.
He said they are still investigating if the motorcycle was intentionally abandoned in the area by the NPA as part of their plan to attack the government troops.
He also said that the village official who supposedly phoned the police detachment to report the discovery of the abandoned motorcycle denied that he had called for police assistance.
“It could be part of the plot of the NPA to ambush our policemen,” Peña said.
11.8.08
NPA killing in Bukidnon exposed
By Bob on May 29, 2006 in News, Terrorism
PANACAN, DAVAO CITY (27 May) — The military has unearthed more atrocities committed by the New People’s Army rebels in the countryside, the latest of which were the mass execution of rebels and civilians alike, the recruitment of child warriors and the abduction and the rape of teenage girl by a rebel commander.
All of these atrocities occurred in the town of San Fernando, Bukidnon and were documented by the 26th Infantry Battalion based in Cagayan de Oro City, and has evidence that cannot be fabricated like photographs, eyewitnesses, and other documentation.
There are 21 skeletal remains, including that of a minor and most of the victims were summarily executed as they are suspected to be military assets. But others were also killed as they were accused of various crimes such as wife-beating, joining a cult, or rape and ‘not supportive of the Communist terrorist Movement’.
At least twelve witnesses, including a barangay captain, four former rebels and relatives of the victims, came out and gave testimonies to the members of the 26th IB who investigated the slayings.
Some of the witnesses also disclosed that the NPA recruited minors who were issued M14 rifles and who were asked to recruit other children. One of these young warriors captured by soldiers was a girl aged 16 who said she was raped and forced to become the wife of a certain Commander Butoy.
The residents of the said Barangay assert that they are not communist influenced but rather a communist-terrorized barangay. Now that they have sought the help and protection of the military, they felt safe and confident that the rebels will not be able to terrorize them any further. These “human rights violation of the communist-terrorist movement” were exposed in a briefing attended by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, Brig. Gen. Cardoza Luna, Commanding General of the 4th Infantry division and those who witnessed the rebel atrocities.
“Clearly now, the criminal NPA showed their real skin to the public, the oppressor of their so called mass base. Because they cannot get the respect, they use intimidation and threat to force the innocent civilians to cooperate with this terrorist.
I look forward to the day that this kind of brutality will be loudly criticized and condemned by the militant groups such as Karapatan and Bayan Muna. The victims of the NPA’s are Filipinos also that deserves their attention and support,” Major Jose Maria R. Cuerpo II, Group Commander, 5th Civil Relation Group said. (5th CRGNEWS/PIA)
AFP expects rise in NPA executions in 2008
By Nikko Dizon
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:34:00 02/10/2008
MANILA, Philippines--The military's Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) has warned that summary executions carried out by "communist terrorists" (or CTs) against the Armed Forces of the Philippines and civilians are likely to increase in 2008 as indicated by the 11 killings recorded in the Bicol Region in the past month alone.
In a statement, the Solcom also took a swipe at the media, foreign and local human rights organizations, and United Nations Human Rights Special Rapporteur Philip Alston for supposedly ignoring the atrocities of the New People's Army (NPA) while "persecuting" the military in the alleged extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
"As the government is continuously being persecuted by human rights advocates here and abroad for alleged summary disappearance of leftists and CTs, these enemy atrocities continue without being noticed, (t)hanks to the media who chose to keep mum about these incidents," the statement emailed to reporters said.
It continued: "Alston et al ignored these extremely disturbing phenomena despite evidence left by the killers near the cadavers of victims and despite press releases by the CTM (Communist Terrorist Movement) themselves owning up to the killing of their victims which they always justify as alleged verdicts of their so called "Hukumang Bayan" or their "Kangaroo Court."
The Solcom is the AFP's area command in the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions.
According to Solcom, most of the NPAs' victims were civilians suspected of being military informants.
It said that of the 11 recorded executions this year, 10 took place in Bicol, and seven of the victims were civilians.
The lone case recorded in Oriental Mindoro in Southern Tagalog was the killing of a military soldier.
The Solcom said the victims were either abducted then executed or assassinated by hitmen "right at the gates of the victims' houses even in full view of their family members."
It said that based on the "trending," liquidations initiated by the communist guerillas "is likely to surpass that of the 2006 and 2007
figures as the CPP/NPA continues to terrorize the people to dissuade them from gravitating towards the government in a desperate attempt to arrest the continues downtrend of mass base support in SOLCOM area."
"The dwindling strength of the CTM brought about by the neutralization efforts of the government forces and the exodus of many dispirited members who (have) gone on lie-low status, has further degraded their capability to conduct tactical offensives thus forcing them to settle for liquidation operations to project a semblance of strength and to prop up their statistics on CT-initiated activities," the Solcom said.
The Solcom said it recorded a total of 152 "liquidation cases perpetrated by the CTs" from January 1, 2006 to February 6, 2008.
Eighty-four percent of the killings happened in Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, and Sorsogon, said the military.
Sixteen percent took place in the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Quezon, and Rizal.
According to Solcom, the executions increased by 43 percent in 2007 compared to the previous year.
It said that in 2006, a total of 56 executions were reported while in 2007, 80 killings were reported.
The Solcom statistics were based on compiled spot reports and daily intelligence briefs from 2006 to early February of this year.
NPA commander, wife face murder raps in Maasin City
By Jani Arnaiz
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Visayas Bureau
First Posted 17:10:00 04/02/2008
MAASIN CITY, Philippines -- A top commander of the New People’s Army in Eastern Visayas, who was arrested in Bacoor, Cavite, along with his wife Clarita, would be brought to the city for arraignment.
Jaime Soledad, 58, would be arraigned in the Regional Trial Court here for murder charges filed against him before the RTC here, said Senior Superintendent Nilo Donaire, Southern Leyte police provincial director.
"Definitely he would be brought here because he could not be arraigned without his personal presence," Donaire said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
He said Soledad and his wife, who was from Inopacan, Leyte, were already in Tacloban City and would be brought to this city anytime this week.
Jaime Soledad is facing murder charges after he and other alleged top ranking rebel leaders were linked to the 1985 murders of suspected government agents found in a mass grave in Inopacan, Leyte in 2006.
Separate multiple murder charges have been filed against Soledad, his wife, and 12 others at the RTC in Baybay, Leyte. Soledad was also wanted for murder and frustrated murder in another case filed at the RTC in Maasin City.
Olive Bernardo, Karapatan services desk coordinator, earlier said what happened to the Soledads was obviously an abduction and a case of illegal detention.
"They (police) did not inform the family and even their lawyers about the arrest. They even denied that they were holding the couple," she said.
A source close to the Soledads confirmed that the couple was already in Tacloban City and appeared to be "in good hands."
Jaime Soledad was the chief negotiator in Southern Leyte for the National Democratic Front (NDF) during a peace talk with the government in the late 1980s.
After the peace talks collapsed, Soledad went back to the underground movement and was wrongly reported to have been killed in an encounter in Albuera, Leyte, in 2006. His mother hails from Albuera.
Soledad is facing charges of 15 counts of murder before RTC Branch 18 in Hilongos, Leyte, together with Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison and other CPP top-NPA officials, in connection with the alleged communist purges in Inopacan town in 1985.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Visayas Bureau
First Posted 17:10:00 04/02/2008
MAASIN CITY, Philippines -- A top commander of the New People’s Army in Eastern Visayas, who was arrested in Bacoor, Cavite, along with his wife Clarita, would be brought to the city for arraignment.
Jaime Soledad, 58, would be arraigned in the Regional Trial Court here for murder charges filed against him before the RTC here, said Senior Superintendent Nilo Donaire, Southern Leyte police provincial director.
"Definitely he would be brought here because he could not be arraigned without his personal presence," Donaire said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
He said Soledad and his wife, who was from Inopacan, Leyte, were already in Tacloban City and would be brought to this city anytime this week.
Jaime Soledad is facing murder charges after he and other alleged top ranking rebel leaders were linked to the 1985 murders of suspected government agents found in a mass grave in Inopacan, Leyte in 2006.
Separate multiple murder charges have been filed against Soledad, his wife, and 12 others at the RTC in Baybay, Leyte. Soledad was also wanted for murder and frustrated murder in another case filed at the RTC in Maasin City.
Olive Bernardo, Karapatan services desk coordinator, earlier said what happened to the Soledads was obviously an abduction and a case of illegal detention.
"They (police) did not inform the family and even their lawyers about the arrest. They even denied that they were holding the couple," she said.
A source close to the Soledads confirmed that the couple was already in Tacloban City and appeared to be "in good hands."
Jaime Soledad was the chief negotiator in Southern Leyte for the National Democratic Front (NDF) during a peace talk with the government in the late 1980s.
After the peace talks collapsed, Soledad went back to the underground movement and was wrongly reported to have been killed in an encounter in Albuera, Leyte, in 2006. His mother hails from Albuera.
Soledad is facing charges of 15 counts of murder before RTC Branch 18 in Hilongos, Leyte, together with Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison and other CPP top-NPA officials, in connection with the alleged communist purges in Inopacan town in 1985.
Alleged NPA kill farm caretaker in Negros Occidental town
By Carla Gomez
Visayas Bureau
First Posted 16:25:00 06/17/2008
BACOLOD CITY, Philippines -- Around 30 suspected members of the New People's Army (NPA) shot dead the overseer of a sugarcane plantation in the northern Negros Occidental town of Manapla on Monday, a police official said.
Senior Inspector Jose Laboyo, Manapla police chief, said Hermes Ostan, 39, Ostan was declared dead on arrival at the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City from gunshot wounds in the stomach.
Ostan was overseer of Hacienda Mary Ann in Barangay (village) San Pablo, which was owned by Freda Regalado before it was placed under agrarian reform.
The police and military said the killing of Ostan could have been retaliation for the murder of a local leader of the leftist National Federation of Sugarcane Workers (NFSW) on June 6.
Ostan was killed 11 days after Armando Dolorosa, vice president of an agrarian reform group based in Hacienda Mary Ann that was affiliated with the NFSW, was gunned down by three men wearing ski masks.
Police said 30 suspected NPA guerrillas, including three women, armed with M-16 and M-14 assault rifles, entered the hacienda compound looking for Ostan.
When they found Ostan in the hacienda warehouse, they hogtied him and took him outside then shot him six times in front of several residents.
Ostan was one of five persons invited for questioning by the Manapla police in connection with Dolorosa's death.
Laboyo said Ostan had denied any involvement in Dolorosa’s murder.
However, the police officer said he believed the killings of Ostan and Dolorosa are related.
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Dar, 15th Infantry Battalion commander, said Ostan’s killers withdrew towards Barangay Hiyang-Hiyang in Cadiz City.
Laboyo said the agrarian reform beneficiaries in Hacienda Mary Ann used to be members of the Democratic Association of Labor Organizations, an NFSW rival.
However, they affiliated themselves with NFSW after receiving certificates of land ownership award (CLOA) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) last year.
Ostan was killed a day after Dolorosa was buried Sunday at the public cemetery of Manapla.
Police have said the suspects in Dolorosa's killing could be guns for hire.
Visayas Bureau
First Posted 16:25:00 06/17/2008
BACOLOD CITY, Philippines -- Around 30 suspected members of the New People's Army (NPA) shot dead the overseer of a sugarcane plantation in the northern Negros Occidental town of Manapla on Monday, a police official said.
Senior Inspector Jose Laboyo, Manapla police chief, said Hermes Ostan, 39, Ostan was declared dead on arrival at the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City from gunshot wounds in the stomach.
Ostan was overseer of Hacienda Mary Ann in Barangay (village) San Pablo, which was owned by Freda Regalado before it was placed under agrarian reform.
The police and military said the killing of Ostan could have been retaliation for the murder of a local leader of the leftist National Federation of Sugarcane Workers (NFSW) on June 6.
Ostan was killed 11 days after Armando Dolorosa, vice president of an agrarian reform group based in Hacienda Mary Ann that was affiliated with the NFSW, was gunned down by three men wearing ski masks.
Police said 30 suspected NPA guerrillas, including three women, armed with M-16 and M-14 assault rifles, entered the hacienda compound looking for Ostan.
When they found Ostan in the hacienda warehouse, they hogtied him and took him outside then shot him six times in front of several residents.
Ostan was one of five persons invited for questioning by the Manapla police in connection with Dolorosa's death.
Laboyo said Ostan had denied any involvement in Dolorosa’s murder.
However, the police officer said he believed the killings of Ostan and Dolorosa are related.
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Dar, 15th Infantry Battalion commander, said Ostan’s killers withdrew towards Barangay Hiyang-Hiyang in Cadiz City.
Laboyo said the agrarian reform beneficiaries in Hacienda Mary Ann used to be members of the Democratic Association of Labor Organizations, an NFSW rival.
However, they affiliated themselves with NFSW after receiving certificates of land ownership award (CLOA) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) last year.
Ostan was killed a day after Dolorosa was buried Sunday at the public cemetery of Manapla.
Police have said the suspects in Dolorosa's killing could be guns for hire.
Akbayan solon slams NPA for slay of pro-CARP peasant leader
By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:56:00 06/17/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Akbayan party-list Representative Risa Baraquel on Tuesday slammed the communist New People’s Army (NPA) for allegedly sowing fear among residents in Masbate following the rebels’ admission that they were behind the killing of a peasant leader allied with the party-list organization.
“You have no right to intimidate people who want to fight against abusive landlords and for their rights to land in a way different from yours,” an emotional Baraquel said at a news briefing at the Akbayan office in Quezon City.
“You have no right to torture and kill people just because they do not share your political beliefs."
Akbayan held the news conference after receiving a copy of the letter to Baraquel from Luz del Mar, spokesman of the NPA’s Jose Rapsing Command in Masbate.
In the 12-page letter, the NPA owned up to killing Mark Anthony “Butchoy” Vale, who was shot dead last December.
Del Mar likewise admitted that they briefly held Vale’s brother, Salvador, who claimed he was physically and mentally tortured by the NPA rebels.
Baraquel said the Vales are leaders of a peasant group allied with Akbayan in Barangay (village) Roroy, Batuan town, which openly supported the extension of the controversial Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
She said the rebels gunned down Vale and harmed his brother “simply because they did not support the NPA’s ideology.”
The solon said the incident was not only “an assault on democracy and human rights, but more particularly, on community organizing and state-sponsored agrarian reform.”
The letter, which was also posted on the website of the Communist Party of the Philippines on June 5, was the communist guerillas’ response to Baraquel’s privilege speech at the House of Representatives a few weeks ago.
In a strongly-worded letter written in Filipino, del Mar vehemently denied that the NPA’s “people’s court” handed out “revolutionary sentence” on Vale because of his different political ideology.
The group likewise denied that they tortured the Vale brothers.
“If they happened to be leaders of [Akbayan], we did not consider that as basis in handing out the punishment against them,” the NPA leader said. “In fact, they would have met the same sentence even if they belong to mass organizations allied with us.”
But Baraquel slammed the NPA’s letter as meant to terrorize their group and other people’s organizations supporting the call for the extension of CARP.
Akbayan, on the other hand, took offense at the NPA’s purported “warning against those pursuing a path different from that chosen by the NPA.”
“Akbayan condemns in the strongest possible terms this letter designed threaten democratic organizations like Akabayan, to create a culture of fear among people’s organizations and farming communities, and to warn against the pursuit of agrarian reform via CARP,” the group said in a separate statement.
Baraquel said they were willing to meet in a dialogue with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the CPP’s political arm, regarding the incident even as they are awaiting the official response of the communist group’s hierarchy.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:56:00 06/17/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Akbayan party-list Representative Risa Baraquel on Tuesday slammed the communist New People’s Army (NPA) for allegedly sowing fear among residents in Masbate following the rebels’ admission that they were behind the killing of a peasant leader allied with the party-list organization.
“You have no right to intimidate people who want to fight against abusive landlords and for their rights to land in a way different from yours,” an emotional Baraquel said at a news briefing at the Akbayan office in Quezon City.
“You have no right to torture and kill people just because they do not share your political beliefs."
Akbayan held the news conference after receiving a copy of the letter to Baraquel from Luz del Mar, spokesman of the NPA’s Jose Rapsing Command in Masbate.
In the 12-page letter, the NPA owned up to killing Mark Anthony “Butchoy” Vale, who was shot dead last December.
Del Mar likewise admitted that they briefly held Vale’s brother, Salvador, who claimed he was physically and mentally tortured by the NPA rebels.
Baraquel said the Vales are leaders of a peasant group allied with Akbayan in Barangay (village) Roroy, Batuan town, which openly supported the extension of the controversial Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
She said the rebels gunned down Vale and harmed his brother “simply because they did not support the NPA’s ideology.”
The solon said the incident was not only “an assault on democracy and human rights, but more particularly, on community organizing and state-sponsored agrarian reform.”
The letter, which was also posted on the website of the Communist Party of the Philippines on June 5, was the communist guerillas’ response to Baraquel’s privilege speech at the House of Representatives a few weeks ago.
In a strongly-worded letter written in Filipino, del Mar vehemently denied that the NPA’s “people’s court” handed out “revolutionary sentence” on Vale because of his different political ideology.
The group likewise denied that they tortured the Vale brothers.
“If they happened to be leaders of [Akbayan], we did not consider that as basis in handing out the punishment against them,” the NPA leader said. “In fact, they would have met the same sentence even if they belong to mass organizations allied with us.”
But Baraquel slammed the NPA’s letter as meant to terrorize their group and other people’s organizations supporting the call for the extension of CARP.
Akbayan, on the other hand, took offense at the NPA’s purported “warning against those pursuing a path different from that chosen by the NPA.”
“Akbayan condemns in the strongest possible terms this letter designed threaten democratic organizations like Akabayan, to create a culture of fear among people’s organizations and farming communities, and to warn against the pursuit of agrarian reform via CARP,” the group said in a separate statement.
Baraquel said they were willing to meet in a dialogue with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the CPP’s political arm, regarding the incident even as they are awaiting the official response of the communist group’s hierarchy.
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