THE National Democratic Front (NDF)-Negros spokesperson has tagged four former members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army (RPA) who are now active members of the Special Civilian Active Auxiliary (SCAA), in the killing of nine sugar farm workers in Barangay Bulanon, Sagay City, Negros Occidental on October 20.
In a statement, Ka Frank Fernandez said that knowing the identities of the suspects was a product of the exhaustive investigation of the Roselyn Pelle Command of the New People's Army (NPA)-Northern Negros Front.
“I know for a fact that, for the right price, P2,000 or thereabouts, SCAA elements are willing to kill anyone,” Fernandez said.
The rebel leader also slammed the case filed by the Sagay City Police Station against the two members of the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) for the murder of the nine farmers which, he said, is “absurd and does not hold water.”
“These baseless accusations further discredit the Philippine National Police (PNP). The public, especially the Negrosanons, no longer trust state forces or their version of the truth,” he added.
Fernandez also hit Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. on his move to convene Task Force “Hustisya” (Justice) which he described as “stinks of deceit and ill motives of the governor.”
Meanwhile, Colonel Benedict Arevalo, newly-installed commander of 303rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, told the rebel group to “shut up and stop their lies.”
In a statement, Arevalo said, “First, you blamed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and PNP, then the landlord and the lessee, and now the RPA and SCAA. Who's next?”
“The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA and Karapatan are using their usual deceptive scheme by fabricating false information and telling lies to cover up their faults and blame their terrorist activities to the government or whoever they want,” Arevalo said.
“If they are really for the truth, why did lawyer Katherine Panguban of the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL) and Karapatan took custody of the 14-year-old witness from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and bring him to hiding? Now who is hiding the truth?” Arevalo asked.
The minor-witness was allegedly in the custody of NUPL and Karapatan after the CSWD turned him over to his mother through the assistance of Panguban on October 25.
But the child's father sought the assistance of the authorities after he was not able to communicate with his son and his estranged wife since October 27.
Kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges in relation to violation of Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act were already filed by the police against Panguban on October 31.
Arevalo said that they will not be surprised if the child will come out and will be saying a different tune, as he is being detained for nine days now.
“Anything is possible as Karapatan is known for distorting the truth,” Arevalo added.
“Just release the minor. He is a witness. He is the one who can identify the NPAs as the perpetrators of the crime. He is the only one who can reveal what really happened,” Arevalo said.
“You can blame whoever you want. But speaking in behalf of the Army here in Negros, I say, bring out the minor-witness,” Arevalo stressed.