Zarate: Reward offer for info on 4 militant leaders a ‘cheap political stunt’

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate branded on Saturday the P1 million cash reward by a group against the four militant leaders as a “cheap political stunt and vendetta.”

“This is evidently a cheap political stunt and vendetta by sycophants who wants to claw their way to power. If anything untoward happens to our Makabayan leaders, we will hold [lawyer Ferdinand] Topacio, et.al. directly responsible,” Zarate said in a statement.

Topacio earlier announced that the Citizens’ Crime Watch group would give a cash reward on whoever could provide an information on the whereabouts of Anti-Poverty Commissioner Liza Maza, former Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael “Paeng” Mariano, and former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and Teddy Casiño.

READ: Lawyer dangles P1-M bounty for capture of 4 militant execs

Zarate stressed that the arrest warrant issued against the four leaders, who were accused of murder, “should have been dismissed” since then.

However, the solon said that the charges were not dismissed since it was “used for political persecution of progressives and they are reviving it now for the same purpose.”

He added that that Topacio should go after other drug lords in the country instead of giving going against the militant leaders.

“Instead of going after four Makabayan leaders, why don’t Topacio et al go after the cohorts of Janet Lim-Napoles who defrauded Filipinos of billions of pesos or the big time drug lords who are still very much active under the present administration?” Zarate said. /atm