Reds question gov’t account of Bohol clash: Rebels ‘captured, tortured’

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Philippines — Questions have been raised as to whether the five alleged communist rebels slain in Bilar town of Bohol province were killed in an encounter with government troops or were murdered.

Both the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL)-Cebu chapter claimed in separate statements that no encounter took place in Barangay Campagao, Bilar, on Feb. 23 that claimed the lives of Domingo Compoc, Parlito Historia, Marlon Omosura, Alberto Sancho and lawyer Hannah Cesista.

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“There is no truth to the lie being circulated by the police that the five were killed in an encounter. Local residents attest that no encounter took place that morning. What people witnessed was the brutality of the military and police combat troops, torturing and killing the five revolutionaries,” said Marco Valbuena, CPP chief information officer, in a statement dated Feb. 24.

He said an autopsy by an independent pathologist on the remains of the five rebels would “surely add more details to the initial facts bravely put forward by the community and help unravel completely the gruesome crime committed by the military and police.”

The NUPL, which described Cesista as a “young lawyer” who chose to serve the marginalized communities, called on the government to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation and hold accountable those responsible for their deaths.

Lt. Col. Norman Nuez, spokesperson for the Bohol provincial police office, has maintained that the rebels engaged the police and military in a firefight while serving warrants of arrest against Compoc, a New People’s Army leader in Bohol and one of the province’s most wanted persons with a P2.6-million bounty on his head, and his companions past 6 a.m. following a monthlong intelligence operation.

The three-hour firefight also resulted in the death of a policeman, whose identity has not been released.