NPA admits killing ex-comrade who turned into gov’t ‘hitman’ in Sorsogon

New People’s Army rebels. AFP FILE PHOTO

LEGAZPI CITY — The New People’s Army (NPA) has owned up to the killing of a rebel returnee, who allegedly became a hitman in the government forces’ “death squad” in Sorsogon province.

Sorsogon City police said in a report on Sunday that while roaming around the canteen area of the Guinlajon Cockpit Coliseum in Barangay (village) Guinlajon, West District at around 4:06 p.m., Rey Esposado, aka “Ka Rigor,” was shot at the back of his head and other parts of the body. He died instantly.

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Samuel Guerrero, spokesperson of the Celso Minguez Command of NPA Sorsogon, said in a statement Saturday that Esposado, who surrendered in April 2018, was sentenced to death for “betrayal.”

“After surrendering, he served as a hitman of the death squad of the military and the police against the activists and alleged rebels in the province,” Guerrero claimed.

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Guerrero accused Esposado of being responsible for the killing of Nicanor Ebio and Mindo Enano, both farmer activists of Bacon District in Sorsogon City. The NPA statement did not provide further details on the deaths of Ebio and Enano.

In a separate statement on Sunday, the Bicol police condemned the killing, saying it was “an act of disrespect to human rights, not only to the victim but also to the public because of its continuous threat to security in the region.”

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