Loved ones weep for justice as alleged NPA victims exhumed in Bukidnon

KITAOTAO, Bukidnon — The loved ones of three men who were purportedly abducted and executed by the New People’s Army (NPA) wept as they witnessed the exhumation of the victims' remains on Thursday. 

The graves were unearthed by the military in a mountainous Lumad village in this province.

Breaking: Govt. forces exhume the skeletal remains of 3 captives allegedly executed by NPA firing squad in Bukidnon. pic.twitter.com/ELGbtV9ERv

— Jun Veneracion (@jun_veneracion) August 22, 2019

On August 20, 2017, a vehicle carrying military sergeant Reynante España, retired cop Joel Galendez and tribal leader Dionisio Havana was flagged down at a roadblock set up by the NPA in the nearby town of San Fernando. The three were taken hostage.

Loved ones cried and screamed for justice as police forensic investigators carefully dug up and looked for skeletal remains beneath the rain-drenched earth.

A wailing mother, who was led to the shallow grave where her son was buried, broke the mournful silence that pervaded the place as tribesmen performed rituals for the dead.

A mother cries and screams for justice while being led to a shallow grave where her son and another captive were allegedly “summarily executed” and buried by NPA rebels in Bukidnon. pic.twitter.com/Gi1BMgUEyy

— Jun Veneracion (@jun_veneracion) August 22, 2019

Aida España, wife of the military sergeant, couldn't hold in her emotions as she recounted two painful spent hoping and praying for her husband to come home alive.

“Araw-araw kong [ipinagdasal] na sana bumalik lang siya na buhay. Sana buhay pa siya. Tapos, ngayon, nalaman ko na ganito,” she said through her tears.

Acceptance, she said, will be the only way for her to move on. “Ito, kahit masakit, tanggapin na lang namin. Kasi parang natuldukan na. Hindi 'yung parang hanging ba,” she said.

An NPA rebel returnee confessed to the Army’s 89th Infantry Battalion that he witnessed the killing of the three hostages some weeks after they were abducted—a revelation which has led to the gruesome discovery of the graves.

Speaking in Bisayan, the former rebel, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, said he was told by his comrades to prepare the burial site in a hill amidst bushes and trees.

The hostages were the ordered to stand in the graves; two were cuffed together while the other stood alone, he said.

According to the witness, seven NPA rebels armed with automatic rifles and pistols lined up in front of the victims. Then, all of a sudden, the shooting began, killing the three instantly.

The witness said he was also the one who covered the graves upon the orders of the NPA.

Major General Jose Faustino, Jr., commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said: “Ito talagang summarily executed.”

'Shadow government'

Also present during the exhumation were Lumad leaders who had earlier surrendered to the military after years of supporting the NPA.

They formed part of the communist front’s “shadow government” in Bukidnon under the Komiteng Rebolusyonaryo sa Munisipalidad, or KSM.

Patterned after a local government unit, the KSM also had a mayor, a vice mayor and other officials down to the barangay level, all of whom were designated by the NPA.

Through the use of intimidation, the military said, the KSM governed in seven villages in Bukidnon for 16 years until all its officials returned to the fold of the law on August 17.

Faustino said they expect more rebel returnees.

“Ito’y may mga kamag-anak na regular na NPA. Sila ang naghihikayat na mag surrender. So, marami kaming ini-expect na mag-surrender,” he said. — BM, GMA News