AFP lashes back at NPA for false accusations against Loreto mayor

CAMP BANCASI, Butuan City – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) branded as “purely fabricated” claims made by a spokesman of the New People’s Army in Southern Mindanao against slain Loreto, Agusan del Sur Mayor Dario Otaza.

“It is a very deceitful statement fabricated by Rigoberto Sanchez, spokesman of NPA-SMRC (Southern Mindanao Regional Command) that was released Saturday evening to the public to justify their action six days after brutally killing Mayor Otaza and his son Daryl,” said Capt. Patrick A. Martinez, spokesman of Northeastern and Northern Mindanao Fourth Infantry (Diamond) Division (4th ID).

He said that Sanchez gave “superficial detailed information that accused Mayor Otaza of several crimes that happened in his town when, ironically, these accusations are coming from the number 1 human rights violator and a criminal himself.”

In a statement released to some news agencies Saturday, Sanchez tagged Otaza as the mastermind behind the torture and murder of Lumad and ordinary civilians. One of which was the death of Benjie Planos and Gabriel Alindao, last September, 2013.

“Planos and Alindao were both occupying high positions in the armed movement. Their position was ‘Sangay sa Partido sa Lokalidad’ or the main NPA recruiter, organizers, point of contact inside the barangay. However, when Mayor Otaza promised a better future for his town and urged his people to stop supporting the armed movement, Planos and Alindao turned their back to the armed movement just like what Mayor Otaza did in 1986,” Martinez recounted.