Slain NPA chief to be laid to rest in Surigao City on November 20

From Rappler (Nov 16, 2021): Slain NPA chief to be laid to rest in Surigao City on November 20 (By ROEL CATOTO)

The cremains of Jorge 'Ka Oris' Madlos were also brought to General Luna town in Surigao del Norte where he grew up as a child

Slain New People's Army leader Jorge "Ka Oris" Madlos will be laid to rest in Surigao City on Saturday, November 20.

Madlos' ashes were brought to Surigao City on Tuesday, November 16, for a four-night wake at the Aldonza Funeral Homes across the Bilang-Bilang Church before he is laid to rest at the Surigao Memorial Park this weekend.

His siblings said Madlos' cremains were first brought by his younger brother Rito to Siargao on November 12, after claiming the urn in Bukidnon.

It was in General Luna town in Surigao del Norte where he grew up as a child.

MUST READ
Bukidnon town gives ashes of NPA leader Jorge Madlos to his brother

"We held two wake nights at the house of his foster parents in General Luna," Rito said.

The old house was built by the late General Luna mayor Mauricio "Oris" Ravelo, whose nickname Madlos would subsequently use as nom de guerre.

The late mayor had no child, and adopted Jorge when he was one year old.

Madlos' urn was placed inside an approximately eight-kilogram marble jar and displayed in the hall at the second level of the old house.

Embedded on the floor is a star made of hardwood, but it had nothing to do with the symbol of the communist insurgency.

"The big star on the hall was there already during the construction period," said 79-year-old Anne Madlos-Caraballe, Jorge's older sister.

MUST READ
Military launches fresh offensive against Madlos followers in Bukidnon

The house stands between Rizal and Clarin streets, just a block away from the General Luna municipal hall.

The wake was solemn, and there were only a few people there – just relatives and some family friends who knew Jorge's ashes were brought there.

In Dapa town, where his ashes were brought to the house of his sister Anne earlier, a few people also came because there was no announcement.

Before that, his ashes were brought to his beachfront property which he inherited from his foster parents.

Madlos was the seventh of nine siblings.

MUST READ
Military sees Madlos' widow as slain rebel leader's successor

The military said the 72-year-old Siargao-born NPA chief was killed on October 29, along with an aide, in what the military claimed to be a clash between rebel and government forces in Sitio Gabunan, Barangay Dumalaguing, Impasug-ong, Bukidnon.

The military said their bodies were recovered the following day, and had to be cremated after samples showed they were COVID-19-infected.

The National Democratic Front (NDF) refuted the claim, saying that the ailing Madlos and his medical aide, identified as Eighfel Dela Peña, were killed a night earlier, before the air strikes and the supposed encounter.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/slain-npa-chief-laid-rest-surigao-city-november-20-2021