Former NPA commander Llamas killed in Albay

Sotero Llamas, a former communist guerilla leader who ran and lost in the 2004 elections for governor of Albay, was gunned down Monday morning in Tabaco City. Chief Supt. Victor Boco, regional police director for Bicol, said the incident occurred around 8:30 a.m. when five armed men on board three motorcycles opened fire at Llamas and his driver while they were inside a multi-cab vehicle in Panalbayan, Tabaco City, Albay. Llamas sustained three gunshot wounds, including one to his head. He was rushed to the Armando Cope Memorial Hospital in the city but was declared dead on arrival. He was 54. The driver was declared out of danger as of posting time. Llamas, also known as Kumander Nognog or Ka Teroy, was an NPA commander in the Bicol region before he was arrested in May 1995. He later served as a political consultant for the National Democratic Front, the umbrella organization of the communist movement. The NPA is the NDF's armed faction, which enjoys reportedly strong presence in the Bicol hinterlands. Llamas was ordered re-arrested in 1999, along with Fidel Agcaoili and Wilma Tiamzon, after government suspended safe-conduct passes following the abduction of Brig. Gen. Victor Obillo, Capt. Eduardo Montealto, and Chief Insp. Roberto Bernal. Llamas was also one of the founding members of Bayan Muna in 2001, and served as the party's political affairs director. PURGE Representative Satur Ocampo (Bayan Muna) told GMANews.TV that Llamas has been out of the NPA since he became NDF peace talks consultant. Bayan Muna media officer Tonyo Cruz noted that Llamas has been a mainstream or "aboveground," unarmed activist since 2001. However, Llamas left Bayan Muna in 2003 to run for governor of Albay in the 2004 elections. He threw his support behind opposition leader Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who eventually lost to President Arroyo. Ocampo said he believed that Llamas' death was part of the government's black propaganda campaign, noting that officials had insisted that the recent murders of activists are part of a purge by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Llamas' murder, Ocampo said, may have been carried out to substantiate the government claim of a CPP purge. Ocampo and Llamas are respondents in the rebellion case filed against the so-called Batasan 6 party-list congressmen and former Senator Gringo Honasan. HIT LIST On Monday, Rep. Teodoro "Teddy" Casiño (Bayan Muna) voiced fear that the charge sheet in the rebellion case was fast becoming a hit list. "Llamas was a former director for political relations of the revolutionary movement. But more importantly, he was among those charged with rebellion. Is this the fate that now awaits others in the list?" he asked. Casino noted another personality in the charge sheet, Philip Limjoco, remains missing since May 8. He was last seen in Pampanga. LACSON ALLY For his part, Lacson condemned the ambush of his former gubernatorial bet, saying Llamas' death was a loss to the fight against graft, crime and poverty. Lacson, who endorsed Llamas' candidacy for the position of Albay governor in the 2004 elections, said while Llamas was considered a communist rebel, the latter also fought against poverty and injustice in the countryside. "I first heard of Llamas in 1988 when I was in the Constabulary. We came from different arenas as we fought for the same principles, against poverty and injustice in the countryside. Yet in 2004 we fought on the same side, against crime, graft, corruption and poverty," he said. Lacson said that because of Llamas' death, he was now having second thoughts about his support for the anti-terrorism bill which the government is supporting. "While I was very vocal in supporting the Anti-Terrorism Bill pending in the Senate, I am now having second thoughts about supporting the same as the political opposition could be the next target of the bill once passed by Congress," he said. TOP OF HIS CLASS Llamas was a rebel leader for 33 years before deciding to join the mainstream political arena by running for gubernatorial post during the May 2004 elections. He graduated from high school as class valedictorian, but was unable to graduate from college. During the regime of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Llamas joined the underground movement in 1970 as a student mass movement leader. He later took his cause to the mountains and joined the ranks of the NPA after Marcos declared Martial Law in September 21, 1972. He rose through the ranks of the underground movement and emerged as secretary of the CPP-NPA in Albay from 1972 to 1973. Llamas returned to Bicol in 1992 and stayed there until 1995. He was caught in an encounter on May 19, 1995 in Juban, Sorsogon. He was freed the following year after the Philippine government reached a peace agreement with the NDF.-GMANews.TV