Filtered By: Topstories
News

DILG: Joma Sison ‘personally responsible’ for deadly E. Samar attack


The Deparment of the Interior and Local Government on Sunday said Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria "Joma" Sison is "personally" responsible for a deadly blast in Borongan City, Eastern Samar last Friday.

In the incident, an improvised explosive device killed three people and injured 10 others, including a baby, in Barangay Libuton. One of those killed was a police officer.

The military said that the attack was carried out by the New People's Army (NPA), which is the CPP's armed wing.

In a statement on Sunday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año claimed that Sison "praised and applauded the massacre."

"This is another brazen act of terror against the people. Unfortunately for Joma, the death and wounding of so many civilians only proves to the people what they really are—a ragtag band of terrorist whose thirst for blood knows no equal," Año said.

"We hold all of them responsible for this treachery against the people—Joma and his CPP for ordering this attack, its armed wing the NPA for carrying out this attack, and its political arm, the National Democratic Front for the intelligence, political, and logistical support that enabled the NPA to carry out this treacherous attack against the very people that they said they are fighting for," he added.

Año also called on the Commission on Human Rights to be "true to its word and find the Communist Terrorists guilty of crimes against humanity," even though the CHR's mandate is to go after abuses perpetrated by the state.

The CHR had condemned the attack as a "direct violation" of international humanitarian law and said that it will conduct an independent probe into the incident. 

Año also paid tribute to the police officer killed in the blast, Patrolman Mark Jerome Rama. "The DILG honors Patrolman Rama as a hero and will render full honors to him. We also promise immediate assistance to his bereaved family as befitting his act of ultimate sacrifice in the service of the people," he said. — BM, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT