Probe into how student became NPA leader sought

From the Sun Star-Davao (Nov 12): Probe into how student became NPA leader sought

THE Philippine Army's 10th Infantry Division sought the assistance of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to conduct an in-depth investigation on how student leader Rendell Ryan Edpan Cagula became a New People's Army (NPA) member.

Cagula was killed in a clash in Sarangani town this month. He was president of the University Student Council of the University of the Philippines Mindanao in 2011-2012, former Davao City coordinator of the League of Filipino Students, and Southern Mindanao coordinator of the Kabataan party-list. He returned home after an 11-month absence, but in a coffin.

[READ: UPMin student leader killed in Army-NPA encounter]

The 23-year-old Cagula, also known as "Perper," was among three persons dubbed in an army press release as "NPA bandits killed in Sarangani encounter" between the Army's 27th Infantry Battalion and the NPA at Sitio Tubac in Barangay Nomoh, Maasim town around 1 p.m. of November 4.

"We have requested the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Davao Region to dig up their investigation into this matter, as to why a student from a very prestigious university was conducting research with the NPA," 10th Infantry Division's Civil Military Operation (CMO) commander Colonel Llewellyn Binasoy said.

Marina, mother of the student, said she does not know if her son was, indeed, a member of the NPA, as claimed by the military.

She said her son earlier told her that he was teaching indigenous people, adding that Rendell would contact her when he was in the area.

"We would like to express our sympathy to the slain student who happened to be one of the victims of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army's deception and recruitment inside schools and universities in Mindanao," Binasoy said.

Binasoy said the military would only know that a rebel is a student or an employee after their encounter.

He added that: "The army had no idea as to their background. It is only after the encounter or the arrest we learned their personal background."

Binasoy said with such obvious fact that any potential student could be recruited, the division appealed to the parents, who only want the best for their children, to watch and guide their them in choosing organizations they are about to join.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2014/11/12/probe-how-student-became-npa-leader-sought-376220