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Monday, November 05, 2007
NPA mass grave uncovered in Sta. Cruz town
By Carlo P. Mallo
DAVAO CITY -- The police and military are busy digging up what is believed to be a mass grave in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur where communist guerillas buried bodies of their slain comrades and victims of the group's kangaroo court.
Police are trying to locate between 60-70 skeletal remains although they have so far only located seven and dug up only one at Sitio Landig in barangay Sinoron, Sta. Cruz as of November 3, the first day of the exhumation.
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Initial reports gathered by Sun.Star Davao revealed that of the eight cadavers already located, five were buried in a single shallow dugout grave.
Authorities have yet to determine the reason for the killings of the people buried in the mass grave.
However, a military source told Sun.Star Davao that the victims could have been killed by the kangaroo court of the New People's Army and that others were their comrades slain in battle with the military.
The locations of the remains were revealed by former members of the communist New People's Army, who claimed to have played a part in burying the bodies there.
Some of the former members were those who arrested the victims upon the orders of the higher-ups in the rebel hierarchy, while others said they were the ones tasked to bury the remains.
Members of the Scene of the Crime Operations, pathologists, and other experts have been deployed to the site to help in the identification and recovery process.
Last year, a mass grave of the rebels was discovered in an upland village in Leyte. About 67 people were believed buried there. They were allegedly victims of the purging of government's "deep penetration agents" (DPA) in the rebel group during the 1980s. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (November 5, 2007 issue)
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