Monday, October 12, 2020

Rebel tagged in Mindanao mayor's slay killed in Cebu City

From the Philippine News Agency (Oct 12, 2020): Rebel tagged in Mindanao mayor's slay killed in Cebu City (By John Rey Saavedra)



WANTED FOR MURDER. Left photo shows NPA member Denis Paradero Rodinas who was killed on Sunday night (Oct. 11, 2020) after he fought against a joint team from the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines serving him five arrest warrants for his involvement in several crime incidents. Rondinas' companion, Girlie Mercado, alias Tams or Sol, who is also an NPA member, is now in police custody. (Photo courtesy of Central Command)

A member of the New People’s Army (NPA) suspected for killing a mayor and his son in Mindanao in 2015 was slain in a joint operation in this city’s hinterland village of Pung-ol Sibugay on Sunday night.

Col. Jerry Borja, chief of the Task Force Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor confirmed to the Philippine News Agency on Monday afternoon that
Denis Paradero Rodinas, tagged as the most wanted NPA rebel in Mindanao, succumbed to gunshot wounds on his body “after he became hostile to the arresting authorities”.

Borja said authorities received a tip-off from village residents that Rodinas was constructing a two-story concrete house on a lot covered by Republic Act 7586, the National Integrated Protected Areas System, but without securing a permit from the city.

The joint operatives were armed with five warrants of arrest issued by the Regional Trial Court in Compostela, Davao de Oro to be served against Rodinas and his companion, Girlie Mercado, alias Tams or Sol, also a member of the NPA in Southern Mindanao.


According to a statement released by the Central Command, Rodinas “fought back against the arresting officers” while his companion, Mercado, was already in police custody.

The authorities recovered from Rodinas’ possession a car, several cellphones, and a .45-caliber pistol.

“He might be here planning to strengthen their forces in Central Visayas, recruiting for new members. But he was wrong, Central Visayas is not a safe haven for NPA terrorists like him for the citizens will report their presence to the authorities. They are not welcome in Central Visayas,” Borja told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.

Rodinas, who used the aliases "Manoy", "Butchok" and "Jassi", became wanted for a series of atrocities in Mindanao, including the brutal killing of Mayor Dario Otaza of Loreto, Agusan del Sur and his son Daryl in Butuan City in October 2015.

Otaza, a member of the Manobo tribe, was a former NPA member but later became a critic of the underground movement after he surrendered to the government.

Otaza reportedly managed to drive away communist insurgents from Loreto town and dissuaded residents from joining the group. However, he and his son were abducted on Oct. 19, 2015.

The hogtied and bullet-riddled bodies of the mayor and his son were found the next day in Purok 2 of Barangay Bitan-agan, a hinterland village of Butuan City.

Lt. Gen. Alberto Ancan, Central Command chief, in a statement congratulated the personnel of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines “who are involved in years of hard work and sacrifice just to give justice to all the victims of Rodinas’ crimes”.

“It has been said before that the long arm of the law will soon reach this fugitive and it finally happened. Mayor Otaza and his son Daryl as well as all other victims of his atrocities can be at peace now,” Ancan said.

He vowed to continue the momentum in the government fight against insurgency “until the last NPA shall decide to put an end on their atrocities”.

Rodinas was also tagged in separate murder incidents involving two Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit Active Auxiliary members in Molave, Zamboanga del Sur and in Clarin, Misamis Occidental in 2009 as well as in raids and burning of heavy equipment of several mining firms in Mindanao.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1118235

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