Cops to file murder charges vs NPAs in Ejercito ambush

SASMUAN, Pampanga - Police are set to file murder and multiple attempted murder charges against suspected communist rebels allegedly behind the ambush last Tuesday of the mayor of this town and her companions, including the eldest son of President Estrada.

Local police head Chief Inspector Manuel Chica said they are preparing the charges against leaders of the Rebolusyonaryong Hukbo ng Bayan (RHB), reportedly a breakaway faction of the Communist Party of the Philippines' armed wing, the New People's Army.

Chica identified the RHB leaders only by their aliases, namely Ka Harold, Ka Jersen and Ka Jape. He said the three had at least 27 companions when they ambushed Sasmuan Mayor Catalina Bagasina and her group which included Joel "Jojo" Ejercito, the eldest son of the President.

Bagasina and Ejercito both survived the ambush unscathed, but one in their group, radio correspondent Vincent Rodriguez, was killed while four were wounded.

Fourteen other civilians and 26 policemen were with Bagasina and Ejercito on board two motorized boats when they were attacked while crossing the Sasmuan River in Barangay Malusak in this town.

Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Roberto Calinisan said the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group has also started its own probe on the ambush to establish the full identity of the suspects.

Calinisan said the involvement of the RHB was confirmed after probers found subversive documents in a banca which the suspects abandoned on the river after the ambush.

The RHB is the armed unit of the Marxist-Leninist Party of the Philippines which broke away from the Communist Party of the Philippines in 1997.

Calinisan noted that the RHB was also responsible for attacks on fishpond operators who refused to give in to its extortion activities.

Bagasina had insisted that the assassins were after her, adding that she had received a number of death threats since the Guagua Regional Trial Court upheld her electoral protest last April 10 and declared her the real winner in the 1998 elections.

"I even had to go into hiding, going as far as Tagaytay for personal safety. Calinisan knows about this that's why he assigned two policemen to protect me," she said.

She revealed that those wanting to kill her had warned that she would never be able to assume her post.

Basina said the attackers directed all their guns at a roofed boat which she and Ejercito were supposed to take. However, she said they took another boat and were spared.

Meanwhile, the Central Luzon Media Association condemned yesterday the killing of Rodriguez, who was a correspondent for dzMM radio station.

Gener Pasion, president of the group, said the ambush was the "most dastardly act committed by terrorists claiming to champion a pro-people cause."

"What is more chilling in this incident is the fact that we are being given the impression that groups who want to destabilize the government through terroristic activities want to rule this country," he said. -- With reports from Ric Sapnu, Benjie Villa