NPA admits killing mayor over black sand mining

TUGUEGARAO CITY—The New People’s Army (NPA) took responsibility for the April 21 assassination of Mayor Carlito Pentecostes Jr. of Gonzaga town, Cagayan province, after a revolutionary court sentenced him to death for his role in the arrest of a rebel leader and for  supporting black sand mining in his town.

In a statement released on Thursday, Ester Falcon, spokesperson of the NPA’s Danilo Ben Command-West Cagayan Front, said eight judges found Pentecostes guilty and was then condemned to die by virtue of Section 2, Article VI of the Patnubay sa Hukumang Bayan (Rules of the People’s Court), which imposes a death penalty for the crimes of “espionage, killing, arson, betrayal of public trust, rape and other heinous crimes.”

“This is a testament to everyone that no one is above revolutionary justice. No matter how near or far, or how easy or difficult, the Red court empowered by the people will punish the guilty,” the NPA statement said.

The NPA court began hearing Pentecostes’ case in 2012, Falcon said.

Major victory

Pentecostes was shot dead in front of the town hall after a flag-raising ceremony.

“It is a slap in the face of the Philippine National Police and the security personnel of Pentecostes, that the red unit tasked to punish the mayor was able to penetrate their ranks at 8 a.m. right in front of the town hall,” the NPA statement said.

The NPA also rebuked the military for declaring that the NPA is no longer operating in Cagayan.

“This is a major victory for the people of Cagayan and for the revolutionary movement in the province despite the insistence of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division that the NPA is no longer operating in Cagayan,” the statement said.

Newspapers and television news broadcasts quoted a military official as saying crime scene evidence disputed the theory that an NPA hit squad had murdered Pentecostes.

The PNP has started investigating policemen in Gonzaga for failing to prevent the attack on Pentecostes, said Chief

Supt. Miguel Laurel, Cagayan Valley regional police director.

Laurel also ordered Senior Supt. Franklin Moises Mabanag, deputy regional police director for administration, to review the actions of the intelligence branch of the Cagayan provincial police. Villamor Visaya Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon