3 ex-NPA captives winners in Agusan Sur village polls

INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur – Even if they were held in captivity by communist rebels, three village council candidates still won in the barangay (village) elections last October 28.

Reelectionist councilmen Reynaldo Piodos, Balaba Andalique, and Marvin Bantuasan won by a landslide in the remote hinterland barangay of Sabud.

The three, along with reelectionist and unopposed village chair Lito Andalique and militiaman Pepe Subla, were abducted by New People’s Army rebels on October 24.

Local NPA spokesperson Aris Francisco, in a statement, said the hostages were government-backed militiamen and four of them served as village officials and were standing for re-election in the October 28 barangay elections.

Francisco said the captives, considered “prisoners of war,” were taken during a raid the rebels carried on a detachment of a paramilitary unit supervised by the Philippine Army’s 26th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Mansanitas.

The raiders “captured at the village center’s five paramilitary forces, four of whom were armed village officials, and confiscated two shotgun rifles and one .357 revolver,” he said.

But Col. Gregory Cayetano, chief of the Army’s 401st Infantry Brigade based in Agusan del Sur, said in a press statement that the victory of the hostages, despite their absence, indicated the solid support of constituents for their leadership.

“No amount of NPA threats and intimidation will stop them from imposing their will,” Cayetano said of the residents of Sabud who still elected the captive village officials.

“This is a manifestation that democracy has gained ground in the said barangay and that the NPA is losing the support of the people,” Cayetano said.

He said Sabud sits on a rebel base until the arrival of the Peace and Development Teams who were tasked to carry out humanitarian mission and secure government projects like Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Pamana).

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