NDFP peace consultant gunned down in Nueva Vizcaya

Media reports stated that the victim, identified as Randy Feliz Malayao, was onboard a bus which was on a stopover when an unidentified gunman went inside the vehicle and shot him. (File photo: Felix Randy P. Malayao/Facebook)

A peace consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) was gunned down inside a bus in Nueva Vizcaya on Wednesday, January 30.

Media reports stated that the victim, identified as Randy Felix Malayao, was onboard a bus which was on a stopover when an unidentified gunman went inside the vehicle and shot him. The 49-year-old peace consultant was killed at 2:30 this morning.

Citing a police incident report, GMA News said that the police found one fired bullet and two pieces of fired cartridge case in the scene.

The suspect and the motive behind the killing has yet to be determined.

Human rights group Karapatan condemned the murder of Malayao, saying that they join the latter’s family in their call for justice.

“We ascribe Malayao’s killing, as with the deaths of Fr. Marcelito Paez, Elisa Badayos and Eleuterio Moises, and Atty. Benjamin Ramos and thousands others in the counterinsurgency program and the sham drug war, to the death squads of the [President Rodrigo] Duterte regime, which has ceaselessly incited and ordered the killing of peace and human rights advocates, peasants and indigenous peoples, the urban poor, church people and many others,” it said.

According to the group, Malayao participated in peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the NDFP, and that he was actively taking part in forums and gatherings to pursue agenda for just peace.

It added that it was in 2008 when Malayao was abducted, tortured, and slapped with trumped-up charges. While he was serving his time in prison, Malayao conducted literacy classes for other detainees and attended their needs. He was released in 2012.

Apart from being a peace consultant, Karapatan said he also became an active human rights campaigner in Cagayan Valley.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), meanwhile, also condemned “in the strongest term” Malayao’s killing, saying his death is a “case of extrajudicial killing done by suspected state forces gone berserk.”

“We see no other motive and possible perpetrator. His death is clearly linked to his involvement in the peace talks and his other advocacies as a social activist,” it said.

Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chair Jose Maria “Joma” Sison last January 5 said he welcomes the remarks of Duterte where the latter said his administration is still open to peace talks with communist rebels.

[READ: Joma Sison welcomes Duterte’s remarks of being open to peace talks]

However, the President on Monday changed his tune again about resuming peace talks with the rebels whom he said have been continuing their offensives against government troops.

“Ganun rin sa NPA (New People’s Army). Hindi na ako makipag-usap sa inyo. Eh walang magawa eh. Magpakabuti ka, pasunud-sunuran ka lang (Same with the NPA. I will no longer talk to you. I cannot do anything. You do something good, you just follow what they want),” Duterte said in a speech in Jolo, Sulu.

“Tapos in return ito ang ibigay ninyo sa akin. Mga kabaong pati iyong mga naputol mga paa. Ay p***** i** (And then in return you give this to me. Coffins and dismembered legs. Motherf*cker),” he added.

The peace talks between the government and the CPP-NPA-NDFP was formally terminated by Duterte in November 2017 through Proclamation No. 360, saying that the communist rebels did not show their “sincerity and commitment” in pursuing “genuine and meaningful” peace negotiations.