Civilian injured in Davao City landmine blast

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 8, 2009) – A civilian was injured after a roadside bomb intended for government soldiers exploded Tuesday in Davao City in the southern Philippines, officials told the Mindanao Examiner.

Officials said the explosive was planted by communist rebel group New People’s Army in the village of Suawan in Marilog District.

No soldiers were wounded or killed in the attack, but their jeep was hit by shrapnel. A motorcycle driver, Ronald Sayan, who overtook the jeep was hit, said Captain Rosa Maria Cristina Manuel, a spokeswoman for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.

She said the soldiers were on their way to a meeting with village officials when the NPA under rebel leader Leoncio Pitao detonated the explosive.

“The driver of a civilian motorcycle who overtook the troops was the one injured by the IED blast. No one was injured on the troops, but the KM450 vehicle was hit by shrapnel,” she said.

Manuel said the injured civilian was rushed by soldiers to hospital. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine Army says no soldiers killed in Davao clash

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 1, 2009) – The Philippine Army on Tuesday denied reports by communist rebels that four soldiers were killed in an ambush in Davao City in Mindanao.

Leoncio Pitao, leader of the New People’s Army 1st Pulang Bagani Company, said four government soldiers were killed and six more wounded in the rebel attack on Sunday in the village of Dalagdag in Calinan district.

But the Army’s 10th Infantry Division said the fighting only wounded three soldiers and left a still undetermined number of rebels dead or wounded.

“We have no soldiers killed in the clash, but three are wounded in the fighting. We also inflicted casualties on the group of dissident-terrorist leader Leoncio Pitao,” Captain Rosa Maria Cristina Manuel, an army spokeswoman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

“In their haste to disengage with the more superior government troops, the rebels left behind their personal belongings, food items and other supplies as they fled towards northeast direction,” she said.

Pitao said rebel forces also seized a machine gun from the soldiers belonging to the Army’s 69th Infantry Battalion. This was also denied by Manuel.

“This recent NPA military offensive against the newly augmented 69th Infantry Battalion and the 10th Infantry Division fascists is a punitive action for the serious violations to human rights and international humanitarian law perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines against civilians in Davao hinterlands and provinces in Southern Mindanao,” said Pitao, who heads the NPA’s 1st Pulang Bagani Company.

He said the NPA continues to inflict heavy casualties on the military, despite the massive deployment of troops and militarization in the provinces.

“That the 10th Infantry Division-Armed Forces of the Philippines troops suffered heavy blows versus the people's army, despite the increasing number of its soldiers, nakedly shows the failure of the counter-revolutionary Oplan Bantay Laya II. It has utterly failed to stem the tide of the growing revolutionary movement in the face of intensive and extensive NPA tactical offensives in the region and elsewhere in the country,” Pitao said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

Manuel said the locals are supporting the military operations against the NPA. “Sooner or later, Pitao will be captured and he shall pay for all his crimes against the people. They should surrender peacefully,” she said.

The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which has been waging a secessionist war the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Peace talks collapsed in 2004 after rebel leaders accused the Arroyo government of reneging on a deal, among others, that will free political detainees and stop extrajudicial killings of activists in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

4 soldiers killed, 6 more wounded in rebel ambush in South RP

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 31, 2009) – Four government soldiers were killed in an ambush by communist rebels in the restive region of the southern Philippines.

The weekend attack also left six soldiers wounded in the village of Dalagdag in Davao City’s Calinan district, said New People’s Army rebel leader Leoncio Pitao.

Pitao said rebel forces also seized a machine gun from the soldiers belonging to the Army’s 69th Infantry Battalion.

“This recent NPA military offensive against the newly augmented 69th Infantry Battalion and the 10th Infantry Division fascists is a punitive action for the serious violations to human rights and international humanitarian law perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines against civilians in Davao hinterlands and provinces in Southern Mindanao,” said Pitao, who heads the NPA’s 1st Pulang Bagani Company.

He said the NPA continues to inflict heavy casualties on the military, despite the massive deployment of troops and militarization in the provinces.

“That the 10th Infantry Division-Armed Forces of the Philippines troops suffered heavy blows versus the people's army, despite the increasing number of its soldiers, nakedly shows the failure of the counter-revolutionary Oplan Bantay Laya II. It has utterly failed to stem the tide of the growing revolutionary movement in the face of intensive and extensive NPA tactical offensives in the region and elsewhere in the country,” Pitao said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

There was no immediate statement from the military about the ambush.

The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which has been waging a secessionist war the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. Peace talks collapsed in 2004 after rebel leaders accused the Arroyo government of reneging on a deal, among others, that will free political detainees and stop extrajudicial killings of activists in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

NPA rebels warn of more attacks in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 2, 2009) – Philippine communist rebels warned security forces of more attacks and accused the Arroyo government of wanton violation of human rights and extrajudicial killings of political activists.

Leoncio Pitao, a senior New People’s Army rebel leader in southern Mindanao, said police and military are targets of attacks and warned security forces against straying in so-called “high-risk” areas in Davao City.

Rebels last week killed two soldiers and wounded six more in an ambush in Davao City’s Paquibato district, a known stronghold of the NPA.

“The recent casualties of in Davao City indicate that NPA guerrilla territories are indeed high-risk areas for their operating units,” Pitao said in a statement.

“When the troops, equipment, and facilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police located in municipal, provincial, and city centers can be hit, and in fact, have been hit by NPA tactical offensives, more so when the enemy combat troops foray deep inside guerrilla territory.”

“Certainly, the risk for the enemy rises as they enter a wide, rugged, and unfamiliar terrain favourable to guerrilla warfare and confronted by masses of people that stand up against human rights abuses, economic exploitation and political oppression which the AFP very clearly represent,” Pitao said.

He said civilians who are fed up with human rights violations by the military are supporting the NPA.

“What brazenly constitute an indisputable violation of human rights and international humanitarian law is the Arroyo regime’s policy of extra-judicial killings, abductions, enforced disappearances, and torture that has given it international notoriety,” Pitao said.

The military has denied all Pitao’s accusations and said the rebels are the number one violators of human rights.

Pitao’s daughter was abducted in Davao City on March 4. Her naked body was found the next day floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her family said the woman’s body bore torture marks and was believed raped.

Pitao tagged the military as behind his daughter’s slay.

The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines. Peace talks between Manila and the CPP-NPA collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign an agreement to end more than four decades of bloody fighting.

Last week government and rebel peace negotiators announced they will resume the talks next month. (Mindanao Examiner)

NPA Rebels Hit Back On AFP Reports About Leader

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 1, 2009) – Philippine communist rebels branded as propaganda a military report linking a senior guerrilla leader on sex scandals and money laundering activities in Mindanao.

Army Colonel Daniel Lucero, commander of the Civil-Military Operations Group, said Leoncio Pitao, head of the New People’s Army’s Pulang Bagani Command, had abused several women rebels and siphoned off funds collected from extortion activities in the southern Philippines.

Lucero said the report on Pitao, whose nom de guerre is Kumander Parago, came from former rebels who had surrendered to the government in recent years. “The accounts here were revealed by Parago’s former followers who are now working with the government to restore the wellbeing of our nation which is being wrecked by a noxious social
belief,” he said.

The NPA said: “The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has just made official its policy of adding another dimension to its counterrevolutionary war under the mantle of the Arroyo regime’s Enhanced National Internal Security Plan notoriously known as Oplan Bantay Laya II or OBL II. Shortly after General Victor Ibrado hinted about adding new parameters to its counter-insurgency program - citing the difficulties encountered in achieving its mid-2010 goals - the AFP’s black propaganda machinery took off with its rehashed vilification campaign against leaders of the revolutionary movement.”

Ibrado is the AFP Chief-of-Staff.

“The new dimension General Ibrado was talking about - it came to pass - was directly concocted out of the latest showbiz scandal that has since pre-occupied the national mass media. Taking cue from his higher ups, Colonel Daniel Lucero of the Philippine Army’s Civil Military Operations Group presented his own sex scandal and corruption expose, against Leoncio “Ka Parago” Pitao, Red commander of the NPA’s 1st Pulang Bagani Company in Southern Mindanao,” Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman, said in a statement.

Lucero said Pitao was also charged and found guilty of embezzling NPA funds, mostly extortion money collected from businesses in Mindanao. He also alleged that Pitao’s son molested female NPA members.

“Aside from all those sexual molestation charges, Parago was also found guilty by the Communist Party of the Philippines of pocketing NPA funds. Despite of the disciplinary actions imposed on him, he still retained his command – the Pulang Bagani. And as revealed by his former followers, Leoncio Pitao pockets an average of five million pesos at least every quarter of the year and these came from extortion activities - from different business establishments in Davao area - which he embezzles for his personal use. His family is reportedly living in affluence.”

“In a similar fashion, CTL Ryan Pitao, a son of Parago, was also revealed to have sexually molested a number of female members of the Pulang Bagani Command, which Parago is said to be tolerating,” Lucero said.
But the NPA branded the accusations as an “ill-conceived character assassination.”

“For all intents and purposes, Colonel Lucero’s exposé is nothing but a lowest level type of an ill-conceived character assassination scheme. AFP psychological operation run alongside its murderous campaign of OBL-mandated extrajudicial killing that has victimized hundreds of activists, unarmed civilians and non-combatants that included Ka Parago’s daughter Rebelyn,” Sanchez said.

Pitao’s daughter was abducted in Davao City on March 4. Her naked body was found the next day floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her family said the woman’s body bore torture marks and was believed raped.

The NPA accused soldiers and civilian informants linked to the brutal killing of the woman and had already killed four of them - Ruben Bitang, Macky Estremos, Marcelino Payot and Bobong Gambuta. The military denied it was behind Pitao’s murder.

“It is quite clear that the AFP has had utilized all imaginable combat, intelligence and special operations against units and leaders of the NPA. They have killed many leaders and members of militant and progressive organizations and continue to place an even larger number in the AFP Order of Battle. Thus, Colonel Lucero’s cheap propaganda gimmick comes as no surprise as he merely rides on a crest of widespread public attention generated by the latest scandal to rock the Philippine entertainment scene,” Sanchez said.

“Colonel Lucero of the AFP top brass would be well-advised if they look into the endemic corruption that is a plague in the AFP organization. The Filipino people are convinced that a cabal of AFP generals are lording it over the AFP, siphoning public funds to their pockets as has been credibly revealed during the Oakwood Mutiny and the recent Western Mindanao Command corruption as disclosed by Navy Lt. SG Nancy Gadian, among others,” he further said.

Gadian has accused senior military officials of pocketing funds intended for a joint US-Philippine military exercises in Mindanao. The military said it is investigating Gadian’s allegations, but also ordered her arrest after she spoke to the media about corruption in the AFP.

Sanchez said:”Gloria Arroyo and her husband Mike Arroyo jointly command the biggest corruption syndicate in the country is no longer news to the people; it only further inflames the people’s rage and steels their resolve to oust the fake and hated president in conjunction with the armed revolutionary struggle. No amount of AFP black propaganda against the people’s army and its leaders could deter its steady advance.”

The NPA, armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, has been fighting the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine Army bares report on Mindanao NPA leader

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 24, 2009) – The Philippine Army on Wednesday bared a report detailing an alleged sex scandal and money laundering involving a senior leader of the communist rebel group New People’s Army.

Colonel Daniel Lucero, commander of the Civil-Military Operations Group, said Leoncio Pitao, head of the NPA’s Pulang Bagani Command, had abused several women rebels.

He said the report on Pitao, whose nom de guerre is Kumander Parago, came from former rebels who had surrendered to the government in recent years. “The accounts here were revealed by Parago’s former followers who are now working with the government to restore the wellbeing of our nation which is being wrecked by a noxious social belief,” Lucero said.

Lucero said Pitao was previously meted disciplinary action by the Communist Party of the Philippines for having an illegal and illicit affair with a female member of his unit, Lalay, who was then the finance and logistic officer of the rebel’s Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC).

“A sexual relationship of Parago with a female member of his unit was discovered when one time Parago was inside a jungle hammock with CTL Lalay, the then finance and logistics officer of the main regional guerilla unit of the SMRC. Unfortunately, the rope of the hammock accidentally broke and they both rolled down toward the slope naked. As a consequence, Parago was placed on disciplinary action while Lalay was transferred to Front Committee 53 where she died during an encounter against government forces near the North Cotabato-Davao City boundary in 2003,” Lucero said.

Lucero said Pitao’s illicit relationship with other female rebels continued secretly. “He had an illicit liaison with CTL Inday, wife of CTL Federico Moreno, alias Luther. This relationship bore CTL Inday a child which led to the marital separation of Inday and Luther,” he said.

He said in 2005, Pitao was investigated by an NPA leader Ariel Badiang, the second deputy secretary of the SMRC, of yet another case of exploitation of women.

“Parago was reported to have organized an NPA platoon composed of all women whom he personally led. The husbands of these women later filed complaints against Parago for sleeping with their wives. As a result, Parago was instructed by the SMRC to return these female NPA members to their original organization,” Lucero said.

He said Pitao then had another illegal affair with a rebel named Cording, the wife of another NPA commander, Egor. Pitao allegedly transferred Egor to Bukidnon province to hide his illicit affair with the woman.

“Parago still maintains his relationship with Helen, his bona fide wife, but sometime first week of this month - June 2009, Parago was shot and wounded by another CTL Luther after learning that Parago also had an affair with his wife. Parago suffered gun shot wounds on his back and buttocks. This was the second time he was shot by his subordinate. At present, Parago is still recovering from his injuries,” Lucero said.

It was unknown what happened to Luther. Lucero did not say whether Pitao was charged separately for having an affair with Luther’s wife.

But Lucero said Pitao was also found guilty by an NPA revolutionary court for allegedly pocketing funds, mostly derived from extortion activities in southern Mindanao.

“Aside from all those sexual molestation charges, Parago was also found guilty by the Communist Party of the Philippines of pocketing NPA funds. Despite of the disciplinary actions imposed on him, he still retained his command – the Pulang Bagani. And as revealed by his former followers, Leoncio Pitao pockets an average of five million pesos at least every quarter of the year and these came from extortion activities - from different business establishments in Davao area - which he embezzles for his personal use. His family is reportedly living in affluence.”

“In a similar fashion, CTL Ryan Pitao, a son of Parago, was also revealed to have sexually molested a number of female members of the Pulang Bagani Command, which Parago is said to be tolerating,” Lucero further said.

There was no immediate statement from Pitao, one of the most elusive leaders of the NPA and the object of long years of military operations in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

NPA admits killing rebel leader's sister who doubled as military spy in southern Philippines

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 31, 2009) – Philippine communist rebels executed a sister of a top guerilla commander after they discovered she was working as a spy for the military in Mindanao.

The New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), said Evelyn Pitao was killed after she was found guilty by its own court.
The woman was the sister of NPA leader Leoncio Pitao, a rebel spokesman said.

She and her husband, Roberto Dadula, were killed last week inside their house in Santo Tomas town in Davao del Norte province.

Rigoberto Sanchez, of the NPA’s Merardo Arce Command, said the woman was punished for being an intelligence agent of the military.

He said Pitao’s sister was behind the Killing of her brother Danilo Pitao in Tagum City on June 2008 and the arrest of her own husband, Ka Emong, an NPA rebel, in Panabo City on January this year.

She was also implicated in the arrest of Leoncio Pitao, alias Kumander Parago, on November 1999.

“Evelyn Pitao's involvement in military intelligence operations started in 1998 when the Armed Forces of the Philippines hatched a national plan to capture her brother, Ka Parago. Evelyn Pitao and her live-in partner at that time relayed accurate information on the exact whereabouts of her brother. This resulted in the capture of Ka Parago. Her then live-in partner, a former NPA guerrilla turned military intelligence spy was killed in 2001 for various crimes,” Sanchez said.

Leoncio Pitao was eventually released from jail and returned to fight the government, but the NPA said her daughter had been abducted and killed March 4 by government troops.

Her naked body was found the next day floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her family said the woman’s body bore torture marks and was believed raped.

“We take this occasion to expose that as a matter of fact, the AFP has long utilized all possible foul means in its military intelligence operations versus the revolutionary forces. One such dirty tactic is directed against family members and close relatives of revolutionaries who are targeted by the AFP.”

“Under pain of sustained harassment and increasing threats as well as of arbitrary arrests, forcible abductions, involuntary disappearances and killings, family members and close relatives of revolutionaries are being pressured to work as intelligence assets and agents of the AFP. Many have fallen victims while out of the few who have succumb, some later willfully performed intelligence duties with the enemy. Evelyn Pitao was one such case,” Sanchez said.

The NPA also apologized for the killing of Dadula.

“It was a tactical operational error with serious, albeit, unintentional consequence was committed in the course of implementing the penalty on Evelyn Pitao. The fatal shooting of her live-in partner Roberto Dadula should have not been resorted to since he was not a target nor did his resistance take place in an armed manner and thus, posed no threat to the NPA team,” he said.

“Appropriate measures are being undertaken to continuously address this distressing concern and implement the NPA rules on the matter in accordance with the international humanitarian law.”

The CPP earlier issued a statement condemning the killing of Pitao’s sister and husband and blamed the military for the murder. (Mindanao Examiner)

NPA rebels admit killing military spies in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 7, 2009) – The New People’s Army on Thursday took responsibility for the killing of a suspect in the murder of a rebel leader’s daughter in the southern Philippines.

It also admitted to killing three others who were working for the Philippine military and tagged as behind the murder of several political activists in Mindanao.

“Revolutionary punishment was served against Military Intelligence Battalion-Armed Forces of the Philippines assets Ruben Bitang, Macky Estremos, Marcelino Payot and Bobong Gambuta in separate dates since March this year. They were part of the 10th Infantry Division death squads based in Panabo City and Davao del Norte,” Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman, said in a statement.

The rebels tagged Bitang as among those behind the murder of Rebelyn Pitao, 20, whose father Leoncio Pitao, alias Kumander Parago, is the leader of the NPA’s Pulang Bagani Command.

Pitao’s daughter was abducted in Davao City on March 4. Her naked body was found the next day floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her family said the woman’s body bore torture marks and was believed raped.

The outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines said the murder of Pitao’s daughter highlights the Arroyo regime’s innumerable crimes against unarmed civilians who are invariably regarded by the military and its counter-insurgency strategists as combatants in the raging civil war.

The NPA said Bitang was the driver of the van used in the abduction of Pitao. His nephew, Army Sergeant Helvin Bitang, who is assigned with the Military Intelligence Group, was also among those accused by the rebels in the killing of Pitao.

Sanchez said members of the Paking Guimbaolibot Red Partisan Brigade carried out Bitang’s killing on May 3 in Panabo City.

He said NPA fighters killed Payot in Panabo City on April 14 and Gambuta on April 27, while Estremos was gunned down in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town late in March.

“The NPA in Southern Mindanao implemented the standing order against four intelligence and death squad operatives of the 10th Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for committing grave crimes against the revolutionary movement and the people,” he said.

Sanchez said the four men were military spies and members of death squad responsible for many killings of innocent civilians in Mindanao.

The military denied involvements in the killings.

Communist rebels broke off peace talks with Manila in 2004 after the United States on government's prodding listed the CPP and the NPA, including the National Democratic Front as foreign terrorist organizations and froze their assets abroad. (Mindanao Examiner)

NPA kills suspect in murder of rebel leader's daughter

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 05, 2009) – Communist rebels gunned down a suspect in the brutal murder of a daughter of a senior guerrilla leader in the southern Philippines.

New People’s Army rebels killed Ruben Bitang in an attack over the weekend in Panabo City Davao del Norte province, the Mindanao Daily Mirror reported on Tuesday.

The rebels said Bitang was among those behind the murder of Rebelyn Pitao whose father Leoncio Pitao, is a senior guerrilla leader in Mindanao.

Pitao, 20, was abducted in Davao City on March 4. Her naked body was found the next day floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her family said the body bore torture marks and was believed raped before she was stabbed in the chest.

Reports said Bitang was the driver of the van used in the abduction of the rebel leader’s daughter. Bitang’s nephew, Army Sergeant Helvin Bitang who is assigned with the Military Intelligence Group, was also among those accused by the rebels in the killing of Pitao.

The NPA took responsibility for the Bitang’s killing, saying, members of the Paking Guimbaolibot Red Partisan Brigade, carried out the attack.

Communist rebels last month vowed to seek to justice for the murder of Pitao, a teacher by profession who led a simple and quiet life with her family in Davao City.

Her father who is also known as Kumander Parago is the chieftain of the NPA’s Pulang Bagani Command. Pitao tagged 11 military intelligence agents as behind the murder.

The Army’s 10th Infantry Division and the Eastern Mindanao Command have repeatedly denied any involvements of soldiers to the murder. Police also put up Task Force Rebelyn which is investigating the killing of Pitao’s daughter.

But Pitao said the police task force is insignificant. “Its sole purpose is to do the bidding of the criminal Arroyo regime. It has only proven the public perception that it was hastily set up to instantly absolve the criminal agents of the 10th Infantry Division-Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP for masterminding and executing Rebelyn's abduction, torture, rape and murder,” he said.

“The Zarzuela of the 10th Infantry Division-Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) during the Commission on Human Rights public hearing and the lies it has propagated related to Rebelyn's death are just the tip of the rottenness of the AFP organization. The duplicity and criminal deeds of Arroyo's running dogs has long been exposed here in Southern Mindanao. It comes as no surprise that the rotten state is not on the people's side, but on the executioners, the killers, the minions of the 10th Infantry Division-Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP,” Pitao said.

The NPA has ordered the arrest of all those involved in the killing of the woman while the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) also held Arroyo and the AFP responsible for the murder.

The CPP said the murder of Pitao’s daughter highlights the Arroyo regime’s innumerable crimes against unarmed civilians who are invariably regarded by the military and its counter-insurgency strategists as combatants in the raging civil war.

Communist rebels broke off peace talks with Manila in 2004 after the United States on government's prodding listed the CPP and the NPA, including the National Democratic Front as foreign terrorist organizations and froze their assets abroad. (Mindanao Examiner)

Hustisya para kay Rebelyn Pitao; NPA hit squad tumira sa Mindanao

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / May 5, 2009) – Itinumba umano ng New People’s Army (NPA) ang isa sa mga pangunahing suspek sa pagpatay sa anak na dalaga ng isang mataas na lider nito sa Mindanao.

Nakilala ang biktima na si Ruben Bitang at binaril diumano ito ng mga NPA hitman kamakalawa sa Panabo City. Si Bitang ang umano’y driver ng sasakyan na ginamit sa pagdukot at pagpatay kay Rebelyn Pitao, 22, nuong Marso 4 sa Davao City, ayon sa pahayag ng rebeldeng grupo sa Mindanao Daily Mirror.

Si Rebelyn na isang guro at anak ni Leoncio Pitao, isa sa mga lider ng NPA sa Mindanao, ay dinukot habang papauwi ito sa kanilang bahay. Natagpuan ang bangkay nito kinabukasan sa bayan ng Carmen sa lalawigan ng Davao na walang saplot at may maraming pasa at saksak sa kanyang katawan at ginahasa pa umano.

Nabatid na si Bitang, na isang empleyado ng Panabo City Environment and Natural Resources Office, ay tiyuhin ni Army Sgt. Helvin Bitang na miyembro ng Military Intelligence Group (MIG). Sinabi ng NPA na kasama rin ang sundalo sa mahigit isang mga iba pa sa karumal-dumal na pagpatay kay Rebelyn Pitao.

Pauwi na si Bitang ng ito’y tambangan ng mga rebelde. Sinentensyahan ng NPA ang lahat ng mga may kinalaman sa pagpatay kay Rebelyn Pitao. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine rebels vow to seek justice for brutal murder of leader's daughter

Some 3,000 people join Rebelyn Pitao's funeral march in Davao City. (AKP Images)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 15, 2009) – Communist rebels on Wednesday vowed to seek to justice for the brutal murder of a young Filipino woman by government soldiers.

Rebelyn Pitao, 20, was abducted in Davao City in the southern Philippines on March 4 and her naked body was found the next day floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her body bore torture marks and was believed raped before she was stabbed in the chest.

She was a teacher by profession, who led a simple and quiet life with her family in Davao City.

Some 3,000 people joined her funeral march. Many were chanting anti-government slogan and blaming the military for the murder of the woman, whose father Leoncio Pitao, also known as Kumander Parago, is chieftain of the New People’s Army (NPA) Pulang Bagani Command.

Pitao tagged 11 military agents as behind the murder, an accusation strongly denied by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“Today we are remembering Rebelyn on the 40th day of her violent death. We grieve her passing and are united in fighting for justice for a beloved daughter, friend and teacher. With the same purpose, we are also fighting for justice for all victims of state terrorism under Gloria Arroyo,” he said.

He said the past few weeks after the murder of her daughter, the state has engaged in a deceptive campaign in an attempt to pacify the people's outrage on the savage murder of Rebelyn.

The Army’s 10th Infantry Division and the Eastern Mindanao Command have repeatedly denied any involvements of soldiers to the murder. Police also put up Task Force Rebelyn which is investigating the killing of Pitao’s daughter.

But Pitao said the police task force is insignificant.

“Its sole purpose is to do the bidding of the criminal Arroyo regime. It has only proven the public perception that it was hastily set up to instantly absolve the criminal agents of the 10th Infantry Division-Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP for masterminding and executing Rebelyn's abduction, torture, rape and murder,” he said.

“The Zarzuela of the 10th Infantry Division-Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP during the Commission on Human Rights public hearing and the lies it has propagated related to Rebelyn's death are just the tip of the rottenness of the AFP organization. The duplicity and criminal deeds of Arroyo's running dogs has long been exposed here in Southern Mindanao. It comes as no surprise that the rotten state is not on the people's side, but on the executioners, the killers, the minions of the 10th Infantry Division-Eastern Mindanao Command-AFP,” he said.

The NPA has ordered the arrest of all those involved in the killing of the woman while the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) also held Arroyo and the AFP responsible for the murder.

“These fascist agents are believed to have carried out this dastardly crime in accordance with instructions from higher ups in their desperate campaign to shatter the determination of Kumander Parago and his fellow NPA Red fighters in advancing the people’s revolution. These suspects should be sought and arrested so they could undergo investigation by duly authorized revolutionary authorities and face criminal charges.”

The CPP said the murder of Pitao’s daughter highlights the Arroyo regime’s innumerable crimes against unarmed civilians who are invariably regarded by the military and its counter-insurgency strategists as combatants in the raging civil war.

“Ultimately, it is Gloria Arroyo and her top fascist henchmen who are to blame for the crimes against Rebelyn Pitao. Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya 2 has long regarded civilians as targets of military operations including killings, abductions, torture and other forms of fascism. This has now been most hideously extended to apply as well to loved ones and relatives of armed revolutionaries the fascists cannot get hold of,” the CPP said.

Oplan Bantay Laya is the government anti-insurgency campaign in the country.

As for Pitao, he said: “The people have long despised Arroyo, the mastermind of the killings, the chief implementer of the counter-revolutionary Oplan Bantay Laya, and the main representative of the rotten social system.

Arroyo's criminal regime and its running dogs are extremely isolated from the people.”
He said that genuine justice can only be achieved through revolutionary struggle.

”The revolutionary legal and judicial processes of the people's government, the continued strengthening of the people's revolutionary government in the countryside and the tactical offensives of the New People's Army strongly serve the people's interest and the interest of genuine justice,” he said.

Communist rebels broke off peace talks with Manila in 2004 after the United States listed the communist groups as foreign terrorist organizations and froze their assets abroad on government's prodding. (Mindanao Examiner)

Murdered Philippine rebel leader's daughter laid to rest

At least 3,000 people joined the funeral march of the 20-year daughter of New People’s Army rebel leader Leoncio Pitao, also known as Commander Parago, in Davao City in the southern Philippines on Saturday, March 14, 2009. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and former Bayan Muna Representative Joel Virador were also spotted among the huge crowd that paid their last respect. The woman’s family blamed the military for the brutal murder. Her father linked 11 military intelligence agents in the murder. Rebelyn Pitao is cremated. (AKP Images / Keith Bacongco and Ruby Thursday More)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 14, 2009) – Some 3,000 people joined the funeral march Saturday of a murdered teacher, the daughter of one of the Philippines’ top communist rebel leader in Davao City in Mindanao.

Many were chanting anti-government slogan and blaming the military for the brutal murder of Rebelyn Pitao, whose father Leoncio Pitao, also known as Kumander Parago, is on top of the government’s most wanted man.

The woman’s father is chieftain of the NPA’s Pulang Bagani Command, one of the most feared by soldiers in Mindanao.

Pitao’s daughter was found dead March 5, a day after she was abducted in Davao City. Her naked body was found floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her body bore torture marks and was believed raped before she was stabbed in the chest.Hr father tagged 11 military agents as behind the murder, an accusation strongly denied by the authorities.

Communist rebels vowed those involved in the killing, four of them have already been identified as Sergeants Adan Sulao and Ben Tipait of the Armed Forces’ Military Intelligence Group XI and Corporal Alvin Bitang of the Military Intelligence Battalion (MIB) of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division, and Orly Pedregosa, another intelligence agent.

“These fascist agents are believed to have carried out this dastardly crime in accordance with instructions from higher ups in their desperate campaign to shatter the determination of Commander Parago and his fellow NPA Red fighters in advancing the people’s revolution,” the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said in a statement.

“These suspects should be sought and arrested so they could undergo investigation by duly authorized revolutionary authorities and face criminal charges,” the CPP said.

The CPP also held the highest officials of the Arroyo government and the AFP responsible for the murder of Rebelyn.

“Ultimately, it is Gloria Arroyo and her top fascist henchmen who are to blame for the crimes against Rebelyn Pitao. Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya 2 has long regarded civilians as targets of military operations including killings, abductions, torture and other forms of fascism. This has now been most hideously extended to apply as well to loved ones and relatives of armed revolutionaries the fascists cannot get hold of.”

Oplan Bantay Laya is the government anti-insurgency campaign in the country.

The CPP also dismissed as “empty rhetoric” the pronouncements of President Arroyo and her defense officials that it is investigating the murder of Rebelyn.

“How can the Arroyo and her factotums be sincere in seeking justice for Rebelyn’s murder when they have, in fact, made this inevitable in the strategy, tactics and course of their counter-revolutionary war? By commending, promoting and rewarding her notorious fascist generals, Arroyo has in fact directly encouraged the Armed Forces of the Philippines to engage in such brutal and dastardly crimes,” it said.

”Rebelyn’s murder highlights the Arroyo regime’s innumerable crimes against unarmed civilians who are invariably regarded by the military and its counter-insurgency strategists as combatants in the raging civil war,” the CPP said.

The Army’s 10th Infantry Division said it has already restricted to Bitang and Pedrogosa so they can answer any investigations into the killing of Pitao’s daughter.

The two soldiers, who were former NPA rebels, denied accusations against them, said Capt. Rosa Manuel, a regional army spokeswoman. (Mindanao Examiner)

NPA rebels ordered to arrest 4 military men in brutal murder of commander's daughter in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 11, 2009) – Communist rebels vowed Wednesday to arrest four soldiers linked to the killing of a commander’s daughter in the southern Philippines.

The underground Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said it instructed the New People’s Army (NPA) to arrest the four military men for the murder of Rebelyn Pitao, who was abducted in Davao City on March 4. She was tortured and raped and stabbed several times in the chest.
The woman is the daughter of Leoncio Pitao also known as Kumander Parago, chieftain of the NPA’s Pulang Bagani Command.

The CPP identified the four soldiers as Sergeants Adan Sulao and Ben Tipait of the Armed Forces’ Military Intelligence Group XI and Corporal Alvin Bitang of the Military Intelligence Battalion (MIB) of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division, and a certain Pedregoza, another intelligence agent.

“These fascist agents are believed to have carried out this dastardly crime in accordance with instructions from higher ups in their desperate campaign to shatter the determination of Commander Parago and his fellow NPA Red fighters in advancing the people’s revolution,” the CPP said in a statement.

Pitao’s daughter was found dead March 5, floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town.

“These suspects should be sought and arrested so they could undergo investigation by duly authorized revolutionary authorities and face criminal charges,” the CPP said.

The CPP also held the highest officials of the Arroyo government and the AFP responsible for the murder of Rebelyn.

“Ultimately, it is Gloria Arroyo and her top fascist henchmen who are to blame for the crimes against Rebelyn Pitao. Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya 2 has long regarded civilians as targets of military operations including killings, abductions, torture and other forms of fascism. This has now been most hideously extended to apply as well to loved ones and relatives of armed revolutionaries the fascists cannot get hold of.”

Oplan Bantay Laya is the government anti-insurgency campaign in the country.

The CPP also dismissed as “empty rhetoric” the pronouncements of President Arroyo and her defense officials that it is investigating the murder of Rebelyn.

“How can the Arroyo and her factotums be sincere in seeking justice for Rebelyn’s murder when they have, in fact, made this inevitable in the strategy, tactics and course of their counter-revolutionary war? By commending, promoting and rewarding her notorious fascist generals, Arroyo has in fact directly encouraged the Armed Forces of the Philippines to engage in such brutal and dastardly crimes,” it said.

”Rebelyn’s murder highlights the Arroyo regime’s innumerable crimes against unarmed civilians who are invariably regarded by the military and its counter-insurgency strategists as combatants in the raging civil war,” the CPP said.

The Army’s 10th Infantry Division said Wednesday that it has already restricted to Bitang and Pedrogoza so they can answer any investigations into the killing of Pitao’s daughter.

The two soldiers, who were former NPA rebels, denied accusations against them, said Capt. Rosa Manuel, a regional army spokeswoman. (Mindanao Examiner)

Army restricts 2 soldiers linked to murder of rebel leader's daughter in South RP

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 11, 2009) – Two of four army soldiers implicated in the brutal murder of a rebel leader’s daughter in the southern Philippines have been restricted to barracks by their superiors pending investigation government investigation into their role, officials said on Wednesday.

New People’s Army leader Leoncio Pitao tagged Sergeants Adan Sulao and Ben Tipait, Henry Bitang and Corporal Pedregoza as behind the alleged murder of his daughter, Rebelyn Pitao.

Pitao’s daughter was abducted by gunmen on March 4 in Davao City. The next day, her body was found in a creek in the town of Carmen in Davao del Sur province.

Reports said the body of the 21-year old woman, a teacher by profession, was wearing nothing, but underwear. Her hands were tied and mouth was bound with a packaging tape – she had stabbed wounds in her chest and was believed tortured and raped by her abductors.

Officials said the two soldiers – Bitang and Pedregosa - were former NPA rebels and now members of the Military Intelligence Battalion assigned with the 10th Infantry Division.

“The two soldiers are now restricted inside the camp so they can be available immediately to answer any investigation. The soldiers have denied any involvement in the murder of Rebelyn Pitao,” said Capt. Rosa Manuel, an army spokeswoman.

She said the Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu, army division chief, has ordered an investigation into the allegations. “Initial investigation showed nothing against the two soldiers,” Manuel said.

The army initially denied involvement in the killing of Pitao. Pitao’s family also blamed the military for the killing. Pitao, who is also known as Kumander Parago, was responsible for the series of attacks on government forces in Mindanao.

Pitao’s group was also responsible for the kidnapping of Army Brig. Gen. Victor Obillo and his aide, Maj. Eduardo Montealto, in February 1999.

The NPA is fighting for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country and the killing of Pitao's daughter coincided with the government announcement that it would resume collapsed peace talks with rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine communist rebels deplore killing of commander's daughter

MANILA, Philippines (AKI / Mar. 6, 2009) – The outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines said on Friday it deplored the murder on southern Mindanao island of the daughter of a commander of its armed wing, saying her slaying was part of Manila’s dirty war.

Rebelyn Pitao, daughter of the New People’s Army commander Leoncio Pitao, was found dead on Thursday night, a day after she was abducted by armed men while on her way home in the outskirts of Davao City, the largest city on Mindanao.

“The army has no justification at all for abducting, molesting and murdering Ka Parago's (Leoncio Pitao)'s daughter Rebelyn.

"By killing Rebelyn, the army has committed a grave violation of international humanitarian law and the rules of war, which gives foremost protection to those not taking part in the armed conflict,” the CPP said in a statement on Friday.

“Rebelyn's murder and the barbarities committed against her are undoubtedly part of the dirty war being carried out by the Army under Oplan Bantay Laya 2."

Oplan Bantay Laya 2 is the operation launched in 2002 against Al-Qaeda-linked militant group Abu Sayyaf and other rebels Muslim-majority south. It began to target the CPP and the NPA in 2003.

The victim had recently passed the national teacher's examination and was set to teach at the St. Peter's School in Toril, Davao City.

Her body, clad only in underwear, bore several stab wounds. Her hands were tied and her mouth was bound with masking tape, fueling speculation she was tortured and sexually assaulted.

In June last year, Pitao's brother, Danilo, was also abducted and killed.
Major General Raymundo Ferrer, a regional military commander of the Philippines army, denied its soldiers were involved in the kidnapping and killing of Pitao's daughter.

“It is not the policy of the military to involve the family or children of the rebels into our fight,' he said, adding that the army was open to investigation of alleged crimes.

Since 2001, hundreds of members of left-wing political parties, human rights activists, journalists, and outspoken clergy have been killed in the Philippines. The number increased sharply after President Arroyo's June 2006 declaration of an "all-out war" against the NPA.

The latest peace talks between Manila and the CPP were suspended in 2004, after Manila refused to pressure the United States and the European Union to remove the NPA from their lists of foreign terrorist organizations.

The aim of the CPP and the NAP, both founded in the late 1960s, is to turn the Philippines into a Maoist State. (adnkronosinternational)