The military condemned the killing of a policeman and a police asset in Escalante City Monday night, believed perpetrated by the New Peoples Army (NPA) assassins, while the police said the killing was not politically motivated.
"The killing made by the NPA is a worst form of tactical offensive. It was done with treachery and goes to show how heartless they are," Major General Jose Mabanta Jr., commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said in a press statement yesterday.
He stressed that the NPA has not achieved anything from the killing except to make people realize that the rebels are indeed "criminals and bandits".
Mabanta said three members of an eight-man NPA team shot dead PO1 Benjie Tanguan, 25, a member of the 6th Regional Public Safety Battalion, and Joseph Lutrago, 38, a police asset, in front of the public market of Brgy. Balintawak in Escalante City Monday at about 6:30 p.m.
"We extend our deepest and sincerest condolences to the bereaved families," he said.
Lutrago and Tanguan were riding a motorcycle going to the public market when they were shot by the NPA assassins, he said.
Lutrago, a former member of the Civilian Armed Forces Geogarphical Unit (CAFGU) and was later assigned at the Regional Mobile Group based in Brgy. Libertad, Escalante City, sustained gunshot wounds in the head that caused his instantaneous death, he said.
Despite his injuries, Tanguan managed to return fire, hitting two of the eight rebels, before he died, Supt. Jefferson Descallar, city police chief, said.
The two injured rebel hitmen were immediately transported by their comrades into a tricycle, which they used as their getaway vehicle, police investigations also showed.
Military reports yesterday said an NPA member, alias "Toli", succumbed to gunshot wounds.
‘NO POLITICS’
Senior Supt. Celestino Guara Jr., acting Negros Occidental police director, said the incident was not "politically motivated," rather it was "insurgency related."In an interview with Aksyon Radyo Monday night, Guara has ordered Descallar to intensify the manhunt operations on the suspectsand to strengthen the polices intelligence operations to thwart future related incidents.
Escalante Mayor Melecio Yap also denied that the killing was politically motivated. It is insurgency-related, and it should not be linked to him, he said.
Bombo Radyo reported that the target of the NPA assassins was Lutrago.
The brother of slain Lutrago, identified as former CAFGU member Armando Lutrago, was also gunned down by suspected rebel assassins in Barangay Libertad, Escalante City, on Dec. 3, 2011, police records showed.
Jonathan Lutrago, brother of the slain police asset, confessed that they are supporters of former Escalante Mayor Santiago Barcelona, who is challenging the re-election bid of Yap.
But Jonathan said he believes that the killing of his brother and Tanguan have nothing to do with politics, stressing that some members of their family are being hunted by the NPA.
Gov. Alfredo Maranon Jr., who is seeking re-election, said Lutrago was a supporter of Barcelona and him. The governor condemned the killing of the two victims.
The incident took place an hour after Vice Gov. Genaro Alvarez Jr., who is challenging the re-election bid of Maranon, and his allies, including Yap, held a campaign rally at the Brgy. Old Poblacion in Escalante, which ended at 5:30 p.m.
In 2011, Yap had been stripped of his supervisory power over the local police by the National Police Commission, because of his alleged links to the NPA. He vehemently denied the allegations.
Since he won as mayor of Escalante in 2007, the police recorded at least 18 extra-judicial killings in the city, majority of the victims were supporters of Barcelona who had lost to Yap in the 2010 elections.
Police records also showed that most of the killings were claimed by the NPA Jean Pelle Command in northern Negros.
Since 2007, Escalante has been included in the Comelec watchlist of areas of concern in Negros Occidental, because of election-related killings and presence of alleged private armed groups.
http://www.ndb-online.com/040313/local-news/local-news-escalante-attack-slammed-not-political
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