Slain rebel ‘son of NPA top official’

From the Sun Star-Cagayan de Oro (Nov 21): Slain rebel ‘son of NPA top official’

A NEW People’s Army (NPA) fighter who was killed by the military in an encounter in the mountain village in Claveria, Misamis Oriental, on Tuesday was the son of a top Maoist guerrilla official, a source said Friday.

The source, who requested not to be named, said the slain rebel, the 21-year-old Francisco Manseguiao, was the son of a top NPA commander known popularly as “Bajoy.”

The source said Bajoy is the leader of an NPA command operating in Misamis Oriental who allegedly carried out the attack of a police station and the municipal building in Medina town on August 25, 2011.

In the attack, one police officer was killed while two others were wounded when around 30 armed rebels assaulted the town’s police station.

One of the assailants was also killed during the firefight that lasted for about an hour, as they carted away electronic devices they found inside the office of former mayor Pacifico Pupos.

The source added that Manseguiao was the second sibling who was killed in action while one of his sisters had gone back to the fold of the law and is now working in a company in Cagayan de Oro.

In a separate interview Friday, First Lieutenant Patrick Martinez, acting spokesman of the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID), confirmed that Manseguiao’s father is an NPA commander in the province.

No money, no body

Jeric Abasa, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) staff, said retrieving Manseguiao’s body took some time not because of the distance of the site but due to the condition set by the village officials before the rebels’ body could be turned over.

Abasa, who accompanied Manseguiao’s family in going to Barangay Hagpa, Impasug-ong town, Bukidnon on Thursday afternoon, said the members of the village council demanded from the family P10,000 in cash before they could release his remains.

“It came as a surprise to us since we didn’t expect they would be asking cash in exchange for Manseguiao’s body. Aside from that, we did not bring with us cash that much,” Abasa told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro on Friday.

He said they had to haggle with the village council members, who agreed to be paid half of the amount they demanded.

Abasa said he had to sign a promissory note assuring the Hagpa barangay officials that the money will be sent through a military official.

He added the Provincial Government had promised the payment and that it will be received by village officials within the week.

Abasa said he was told by the council officials that they will use to money to buy a pig that they will offer as sacrifice in a ritual called “pamalihi” in the hopes that the same incident will not be repeated in the near future.

They told Abasa and Manseguiao’s family that they would not have demanded cash from them if the slain insurgent were a native of Hagpa.

Abasa said they saw Manseguiao’s body was contained in a wooden coffin when they arrived at Hagpa late Thursday afternoon.

He said the Hagpa officials already decided to bury Manseguiao at 6 p.m. that day if his remains went unclaimed. The dead rebel’s family arrived at Hagpa around 5:30 p.m.

Manseguiao was the fourth NPA fighter from sitio Lantad, Barangay Kibanban, Balingasag town, Misamis Oriental killed during a series of clashes with the military, whose body was brought to Hagpa.

In the past, Lantad was a known stronghold of the NPA.

Abasa said the village officials had to conduct a ritual owing to the fact that four NPA members had already ended up in Hagpa.

Abasa added Manseguiao’s body is now at a funeral parlor in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental and he would be buried in the town’s cemetery, as decided by his family.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2014/11/21/slain-rebel-son-npa-top-official-377885