Rebels were all over municipio, some openly manning traffic before Cagayan mayor slay

From InterAksyon (Apr 23): Rebels were all over municipio, some openly manning traffic before Cagayan mayor slay

That the New People’s Army was able to assassinate a Cagayan mayor in broad-daylight at Monday’s flag ceremony exposes the weak intelligence capability of both the police and military in the province, which also hosts the regional police office.

“At around 5 a.m., just barely three hours before they killed the mayor, some residents claimed they saw several armed men in camouflage uniforms arriving in batches and converging at the back of the NFA storage building. But they thought the men were soldiers who might be escorts of an officer or someone who will come visit the municipal hall,” a police investigator said.

The officer spoke to InterAksyon.com on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the matter.

At around 8 a.m. on Monday, as Gonzaga Mayor Carlito Pentecostes was about to go up the podium to deliver his speech after the flag-raising, one of the five armed men in camouflage uniforms approached him and fired his M-16 rifle, killing the local chief executive.

Reportedly, three policemen, as well as the mayor’s civilian bodyguards, were nearby but were all disarmed by the rebels.

The officer said the rebels numbering about 50 may have positioned in groups at the four corners of the municipal hall.

“At least eight of them were manning traffic on both ends of the national highway fronting the municipal hall. There were some at the back of the municipal hall, some joined the flag-raising formation, and some were scattered on the left and right sides of the building. Practically, all areas were covered,” the officer said.

The rebels withdrew to Barangay Isca, 6 to 7 kilometers away from the municipal hall.

The NPA has yet to issue an official statement but they left leaflets warning politicians and businessmen engaging in illegal black sand mining in the province. The warning came from the NPA Henry Abraham Command.

New mayor

On Tuesday, the vice mayor, Rene Salvanera, was installed mayor by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) which was attended by top military and police commanders including Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) Lt. Gen. Gregorio Catapang.

Observers say the presence of top military and police bigwigs during the change of guard at Gonzaga was to show that they were on top of the internal security situation in the region.

This developed as Police Regional Office 2 (PRO2) Chief Superintendent Miguel Laurel ordered his top intelligence officers to explain why they should not be fired from their positions for possible security lapses.

Ordered to explain were Senior Supt. Joselito Santos and Supt. Jessie Tamayao, intelligence chief of PRO2 and Cagayan Provincial Police Office, respectively.
Tamayao was just a month-old in his position.

The Gonzaga incident was already strike two for Santos as the region’s top intelligence officer.

In May 2013, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Alan Purisima ordered the relief of Santos along with Cagayan Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC) commander Supt. James Cipriano, then intelligence chief of the Cagayan PPO, for failure of intelligence that resulted in the deadly ambush in Allacapan town.

In that said NPA ambush, eight were killed and seven others were seriously wounded, all members of the 24th Special Action Company of Special Action Force (SAF).
Also relieved then were Senior Insp. Ronnie Albino, former head of the 24th SAC, and Supt. Nestor Lobos, former commander of SAF’s 2nd Special Action Battalion.

How Santos was able to regain his position is a matter Laurel has yet to explain.

Also, Senior Supt. Gregorio Lim was already Cagayan provincial police commander at that time when the Allacapan ambush occurred. He was not fired though and continues to enjoy his position up to this time.

InterAksyon.com also learned that during the raid, the chief of police of Gonzaga, Senior Insp. Ronnie Siriban, and his deputy, Insp. Edison Lagua, were not at the police station. Lagua himself was a survivor of an NPA ambush in Rizal town two years ago.

Both Siriban and Lagua had been fired from their positions while investigation commenced.

The raid happened at a time when a red alert was still in effect nationwide as the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Oplan “Sumvac” was implemented for the Holy Week.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/85296/rebels-were-all-over-municipio-some-openly-manning-traffic-before-cagayan-mayor-slay