CAMP CAPINPIN, Tanay, Rizal — The cadaver of an NPA terrorist who was killed in an encounter last Sunday at Socorro, Oriental Mindoro was turned over to his parents on Wednesday.
This came after the Army facilitated the immediate extraction of the terrorist leader’s dead body using military choppers and its subsequent processing by a funeral service.
Col Jose Augusto Villareal, Commander of the 203rd Infantry Brigade which has operational jurisdiction over Mindoro Island, identified the dead NPA as Elmar Murillo of Brgy Ilayang Ilog of Lopez, Quezon.
Aside from the body, his soldiers recovered one M653 rifle, IED components, personal effects and enemy documents with high intelligence value.
“The NPA leader’s identity was confirmed by his parents through the local chief executives of the municipalities of Lopez and Socorro in accordance to legal procedure in handling cadavers of NPAs who died in combat”, said Col Villarreal.
He added that they “immediately coordinated with our PNP counterparts to fast-track the handover procedure” and gave instructions to his troops “to extend necessary assistance to the grieving family.”
It has been the position of the government’s security forces that it is their responsibility to the families of dead NPAs to ensure that their remains will only be handed over to those legally authorised to claim as stipulated by the laws of the land.
Col Villareal expressed his disappointment to the “NPA’s practice of leaving their fallen comrades behind and did not even consider giving him a decent burial, something that your soldiers believe should be accorded to every human being, regardless of political inclination, instead of being desecrated by being utilised as a propaganda tool.”
There have been numerous instances in the past when the bodies of NPAs who died in encounters were retrieved by posers pretending to be families and were paraded to advance their so called “ideology” under the guise of being “martyrs of the revolution.”
Major General Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr, Commander of the Philippine Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, lauded the AFP, PNP and LGUs “for going the extra mile and closely coordinating to ensure that the cadaver of this NPA leader will be handled with respect and dignity.”
He added that the government’s professional manner of handling the remains of Elmar Murillo “is a testament to our earlier pronouncements that we do not rejoice in killing our fellow Filipinos, however, we have a solemn duty to protect the greater number of peace loving citizens of our country”, added Maj Gen Burgos.
He ended his statement by expressing his soldiers’ “deepest condolences to the Murillo family” while saying that “his death will serve as additional motivation for us to end local communist armed conflict in the soonest possible time because we believe that the moment is now ripe for national unity and reconciliation so that our people may finally enjoy the fruits of peace, prosperity and development.”
[Kalinaw News is the official online source of information on the pursuit for peace in the Philippines This website is a property of the Civil-Military Operations Regiment, Philippine Army located at Lawton Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. Contact us: kalinawnews@cmoregiment.com]
https://www.kalinawnews.com/army-flies-npa-leaders-cadaver-turns-it-over-to-family/
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