Reds own up to killing of tribal leader, brother, kin

From InterAksyon (Jan 16): Reds own up to killing of tribal leader, brother, kin


Members of an NPA squad in Mindanao

Communist rebels in eastern Mindanao acknowledged killing late last month a tribal leader and his brother, who they described as "notorious warlords", adding that they had acted in "self-defense" when they were attacked.

A statement from the NPA's Comval Davao East Coast Sub-Regional Operations Command, dated January 6 and posted on the Communist Party of the Philippines website (https://www.philippinerevolution.info/statements/94/) said guerrillas from the unit were serving an "order to disarm the fanatic paramilitary group MANADU or the Mandaya Ancestral Defense Unit when they were attacked by its notorious leaders on the evening of December 30, 2016 in Sitio Calatagan, Brgy. Poblacion, Caraga, Davao Oriental."

"Acting in self-defense, the NPA fought and killed notorious warlord Cupertino Banugan, his brother Ramon and a relative, Dodo Banugan," the statement by the unit's spokesman Roel Agustin, said. "The Red fighters also seized two high-powered rifles."

Agustin said four guerillas were wounded in the firefight.

Agustin said the incident did not violate the unilateral cease fire declared by the rebels alongside that declared by the government because "fascist enemy forces like the Banugans, who wreak havoc on the lives of the peasant and Lumad masses and are forcibly entering guerilla zones and guerilla bases, are legitimate targets of the people's army."

He said the rebel cease fire grants allowance for the NPA to undertake "active defense against provocative interference of military and paramilitary forces in guerilla zones" and that "the killing of the Banugans should serve as a warning to other warlords and fascist fanatic groups who abuse and terrorize the masses and rule with impunity in peasant communities."

Agustin claimed Cupertino "used his title as the tribal chieftain to usurp 14,000 hectares of land owned by the Iligan, Bayon, Silat, Tibay and Panin clans of Caraga."

He allegedly extorted agrarian rent from the poor Mandaya peasants, collecting "10 percent from the gross sale of abaca and other products of the farmers, including marijuana," and deducting "10 percent from any economic project established in his turf."

Aside from this, he was accused of collecting thousands of pesos "from each of the 300 families who were victims of Typhoon Pablo" and "amassed at least two million pesos yearly from his extortion activities," Agustin said.

He also accused Cupertino and his armed group of assisting the military in its operation in Caraga.

"It is also common knowledge among the Mandaya communities of Caraga that Cupertino and Ramon Banugan were responsible for the murder of Romeo Mapando, Modesto Lagungan and Male Lagungan," Agustin said. "They also tried to kill Julieto Bayon and Bitoy Usto."

"Most of the victims were Caragan residents who were unjustly dispossessed of their lands and tried to oppose the Banugans' despotic rule," he added.

http://interaksyon.com/article/136218/reds-own-up-to-killing-of-tribal-leader-brother-kin