NPA urged to explain execution of 4 members
DAVAO CITY Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte asked the New People’s Army (NPA) to expound why the four remains of its members were found buried in Barangay Malabog, Paquibato District, Davao City.
The troops of the Philippine Army’s 69th Infantry Battalion and personnel of the Paquibato Police Station discovered a mass grave and dug up four skeletons wrapped in tarps and malong at Sitio Malamboon on Thursday morning, following the information of a former communist rebel.
The informant identified only the remains as Ka Lolong, Ka Pogi, Ka Allan and his wife, who were all members of the Guerilla Front 56, and residents of Talaingod town in Davao del Norte.
The informant said the four rebels were killed last 2012 after the NPA suspected them as informants of the Armed Forces of the Philip- pines (AFP).
“Whether sa inyo na gipatay or sa gobyerno, it’s always an issue of… nganong gipatay sila (Whether they are your members or government spies, the question will always be, why were they killed)?” Duterte said.
Duterte added that the NPA “should and must” explain the execution of the four. “The NPA have to come up an explanation dili lang kay sa ako (but for everyone). I would be very happy to hear from you. Naabot naman jud na ngari sa amo though it’s the police who conducted investigation, I would like to know unsa nahitabo (since it has reached out attention, we just want to know what happened),” Duterte said.
Local authorities are already coordinating with the local government unit of Talaingod in Davao del Norte to trace the whereabouts of the families of the victims.