Slay of 2 Karapatan members could be handiwork of CPP-NPA

FILE: Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Civil-Military Operations Major General Antonio Parlade, Jr. (PNA photo)

MANILA – A National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) official expressed fear that the recent killing of two human rights group members in Sorsogon is the handiwork of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).

Major General Antonio Parlade, Jr., who is also Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Civil-Military Operations, said: “What we feared most is now happening and it is most likely that the killing was executed by the CPP, to support their filing of writs of Amparo and habeas data, the basis of which were their allegations of government harassment and attacks.”

Parlade called on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to seriously investigate the murder of Ryan Hubilla, 22-year-old senior high school student, and Nelly Bagasala, 69, both members of Karapata, by unknown gunmen in Seabreeze Homes Subdivision, Barangay Cabid-an, Sorsogon, on June 15.

“The AFP has nothing to gain with this killing especially in light of the filing of writs of Amparo and habeas data that the CPP and its petitioners do. Earlier, we warned that the CPP- NPA might start killing their own NUPL (National Union of Peoples Lawyers) members and Karapatan members, if only to embarrass the state,” he said.

He added that no less that the late NPA rebel, Fr. Conrado Balweg, admitted to such killings, after an NPA ambush of government troops.

Balweg, in a taped interview, revealed how they would recover the uniforms of killed soldiers, and attack communities near ambush areas, to enrage the people and recruit more people into the NPA ranks, Parlade said.

Warning

“We warn other Karapatan and NUPL members to be more careful of the cunning ways of the CPP. We said before, at the end of this National Democratic Revolution, they will purge our society of professionals and intellectuals, and let the proletariat reign in their proletarian dictatorship,” he said, adding that initial reports indicate Hubilla and Bagasala worked for the release of arrested NPA members and paid the bail for their temporary liberty.

Parlade said based on earlier exposés by the AFP, the Karapatan has always been the defenders of the CPP-NPA, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Philippines.

What needs to be considered now, he said, are reports that the two victims were actually suspected by the CPP as tipsters and government deep penetration agents (DPAs) that led to the arrest of three staff of the CPP National Finance Commission in Sorsogon on April 10, 2019.

Carlito de Guzman alias Mario Torres/Jimi, Joan Cuesta alias Bettina dela Cruz/Janette Pardines alias Tina, and Hugo Fuentes y Frodo alias Hugo were found to be in possession of several high-powered firearms and ammunition.