Friday, August 01, 2003
CPLA chief doubles security after killing
BANGUED -- The chairman of the self-styled Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA) admitted on Thursday that he has doubled his security following the killing of three CPLA officers in Manabo, Abra, on Tuesday.
In an interview with Mayor Mailed Molina of Bucloc, Abra, concurrent CPLA chairman, he said that he has beefed up his security after one of the slain CPLA official was discovered to be his close aide.
Molina said the CPLA leadership and its political wing, the Cordillera Bodong Administration (CBAD), through its president Marcelina Bahatan, condemned in their strongest terms the killing of the three CPLA.
"The perpetrators of the murders must answer to the people for their dastardly act, whoever they are," Molina said.
The slain CPLA company commanders were identified as Rommel Martinez alias Ka Rabas, Hector Rosales alias Ka Marlon, both residents of Lubo, Abra; and Hermi Tubban, Molina's reported close aide.
An initial probe revealed that around 10 armed bonnet-wearing men, who flagged down the jeepney that the victims were riding in San Ramon East, Manabo, Abra, peppered the three CPLA officials with bullets.
Molina said the CPLA and CBAd have requested the Abra Provincial Police Office and the 17th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army based in Lagangilang, Abra to go against the still unidentified perpetrators.
While earlier reports claimed that New Peoples Army (NPA) rebels were behind the killings, Molina surmised that the crime might have been politically motivated.
Early this year, Molina announced his intention to run for the gubernatorial post in the upcoming 2004 elections against Gov. Vicente Valera, the reported political kingpin of Abra.
Over at Camp Bado Dangwa, La Trinidad, Benguet, however, a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Police Regional Office in the Cordilleras (PRO-CAR) is not yet eliminating the possible involvement of the CPP-NPA in the slay of these victims.
This developed after the Agustin Begnalen Command, which s based in Abra, admitted earlier that Molina tops their hit list because of his alleged crimes against the revolution and the people.
The same NPA command assassinated former CPLA chief and Renegade priest Conrado 'Ka Ambo' Balweg inside his ancestral home in Malibcong, Abra, on December 31, 1999, after allegedly incurring blood debts awaiting revolutionary justice.
Molina organized the CPLA along with Balweg to spearhead the campaign for autonomy in the Cordillera.
In founding the CPLA, Balweg and Molina severed ties with the mainstream Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the NPA, and then signed a peace pact with then President Corazon Aquino at Mt. Data in 1987.
Molina claimed that his political rivals might be riding on the issue that he tops the hit list of the Agustin Begnalen Command to pursue with their sinister plan against him. HFP
(August 1, 2003 issue)
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