Former rebel-turned-gov't spy is killed in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / January 18, 2010) – Communist rebels executed a former member for aiding the Philippine military’s anti-insurgency campaign in the restive southern region of Mindanao.

Marcella Valiente, a spokesperson for the New People’s Army, said a special unit carried out the punitive action against Dionesio Baslan Jr., for his many crimes against the rebel group in the village of Pandapan in Tagum City.

“Baslan’s fate should serve as a warning to those who let themselves become armed and brutal instruments of the fascist Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police against the people,” Valiente said.

The rebel group said Baslan abandoned his unit - the Armando Dumandan Command - on January 7, 2008, taking with him some P20,000 and a pistol and surrendered to the police in Tagum City.

Since his surrender, Baslan worked with the authorities and became active in the counter-revolutionary operations of the police in Tagum City. He also served as guide during the combat operations of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division Reconnaissance Company in Tagum City and Compostela Valley Province in Mindanao.

“From January 20, 2008, he was active in the harassment and intimidation operations of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion of the Army’s 1003rd Infantry Brigade against the poor masses suspected as members of the revolutionary mass organizations.”

“During the combat intelligence operations of the AFP’s Division Reconnaissance Company and Special Forces Battalion, Baslan was armed like any regular fascist forces. In 2009, Baslan joined the notorious death squad of the AFP and PNP in their surveillance operations against peasant leaders in Tagum City and in Compostela Valley Province,” Valiente said.

The Army’s 10th Infantry Division on Monday said it is investigating the reports about Baslan. “We have no information about this execution, but we are looking into it,” said Major Romeo Cabanalan, a deputy army spokesman.

The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front which broke off peace talks with Manila after negotiators accused Filipino leader Gloria Arroyo of reneging on several agreements, among them the release of all political prisoners in the country.

Rebels have been fighting for more than four decades for the establishment of Maoist state in the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)