Kidnapped Agusan del Sur mayor, son found dead

(Updated 12:08 p.m.) The kidnapped mayor of Loreto, Agusan del Sur and his son were found dead in Butuan City on Tuesday morning.

 

Police said Army troops found the bodies of Loreto town Mayor Dario Otaza and his son, Daryl, in Purok 2, Barangay Bitan-agan, shortly before 7 a.m.

 

The victims were hogtied and bore multiple gunshot wounds in their bodies, the police added.

 

Earlier, Undersecretary Manny Bautista of the Cabinet cluster said in a statement that Otaza and his son were abducted by suspected members of the New People's Army rebels from their home in Barangay Baan on Monday night. 

Capt. Joe Patrick Martinez of the Army's 4th Infantry Division's public affairs office said the rebels disguised themselves as National Bureau of Investigation agents when they seized the Otazas around 6:50 p.m. Monday. 

 

Bautista also said that Otaza was responsible for the surrender of 154 NPA members.

The mayor was also a former member of the NPA.

 

Bautista said the mayor "put up programs that were instrumental in ensuring that rebel returnees like himself get the necessary support as they transition back into the mainstream.”"

 

“Abductions such as these, especially of upright, development-oriented public servants who are well-respected in their community, have no place in a civilized society. This only goes to show the lengths to which those who wish to obstruct our efforts towards peace and development will go through, in order to fulfill their agenda,” Bautista said. —ALG/RSJ, GMA News