4 NPA rebels linked to killing of mayor wounded, says Army

A CHILD walks along Mendiola Street in Manila that was filled with mock coffins brought by “lumad” protesters recently from Mindanao and friends of victims of human rights violations. JOAN BONDOC

DAVAO CITY—Army soldiers have caught up with communist rebels, who had kidnapped and executed Mayor Dario Otaza of Loreto town, Agusan del Sur province, and his son, Daryl, according to Capt. Patrick Martinez, spokesperson of the 4th Infantry Division based in Cagayan de Oro City.

Four rebels were reported wounded in Friday’s clash in Barangay Lower Olave in Buenavista town, Agusan del Norte province, some 15 kilometers from Butuan City, where the Otaza’s were kidnapped and killed on Oct. 19.

Martinez said soldiers were on combat operation and had received information from residents of Sitio Agfa that New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were hiding in the community.

Responsible

“The information we received from the residents in the area is that this group is responsible for the killing of the mayor and his son,” he said.

Martinez said upon arriving in the community, the soldiers belonging to the 23rd Infantry Battalion (IB) were met with gunfire.

In the aftermath of the clash that ensued, he said that residents reported seeing rebels carry four of their injured comrades.

“A soldier was also wounded during the first burst of indiscriminate fire from the NPA rebels,” Martinez said.

He said during mopping up operation, soldiers recovered backpacks and “documents of high intelligence value.”

On Saturday, the NPA admitted to have abducted and killed the Otazas because of their alleged counterrevolutionary activities.

Rigoberto Sanchez, spokesperson of the NPA’s Southern Mindanao Regional Command, said in a media statement that the NPA punished the Otazas, whom he described as warlords.

This is “to give justice to the thousands of indigenous peoples and peasants terrorized by their tyranny in Loreto and surrounding municipalities in Agusan del Sur,” Sanchez said.

He said they posed as elements of the National Bureau of Investigation and took the mayor and his son from their house in Barangay Baan in Butuan City on the evening of Oct. 19. The mayor and his son was found dead early morning the next day.

The NPA rebels were also able to take with them high-powered firearms including four Bushmaster rifles, an AK47 rifle, an AK2000 rifle and four handguns, Sanchez said.

“The NPA operatives found the Otazas in possession of some P25,000, which had been secured and shall be turned over to their family through a third party at the soonest possible time,” he said.

In justifying the execution of the executive and his son, Sanchez said the Otazas committed acts they considered war crimes and crimes against humanity, which were punishable by death.

The rebel leader accused the Otazas of torturing and killing “lumad” and civilians, including Benjie Planos in Barangay Kauswagan on Sept. 13, 2013; Gabriel Alindao on Oct. 10, 2013; Romeo Wagas and Willy Gabisan on Oct. 26, 2013; and Gerry Villamo on Sept. 10, 2014.

Sanchez also blamed the Otazas for the multiple attacks and robbery against residents of Km 16 in Datu Davao in Loreto on Sept. 9, 2014; arson and destruction of the homes of the farmers in Barangay Kauswagan, also in Loreto; and other crimes allegedly perpetrated by paramilitary groups that the mayor had allegedly put up.

Sanchez said Otaza, a former NPA rebel, also planted spies into the rebel movement and had actively supported military operations that “resulted in gruesome rights abuses against the lumad population.”

Sanchez also said the Otazas had forced lumad members to join paramilitary groups by threatening to brand them as communists if they did not join. Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao