PNP: Lagman murder part of anti-GMA plot

Whodunit?

The brutal murder of left-wing labor leader Filemon "Popoy" Lagman may be part of a plot to destabilize the Arroyo administration, acting Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Deputy Director General Leandro Mendoza warned yesterday.

Mendoza said police are looking into the possibility that "rightist or counter-revolutionary" groups, including those associated with deposed President Joseph Estrada, may be behind Lagman’s assassination at the University of the Philippines campus in Quezon City last Tuesday afternoon.

The military intelligence community is also monitoring a group loyal to the Estrada regime which has reportedly been recruiting members to destabilize the Arroyo administration and reinstall their disgraced leader.

But Mendoza stressed that police are not ruling out other suspects. The PNP offered yesterday a P500,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of Lagman’s killers.

Lagman, 47, was gunned down by four still unidentified gunmen in front of the UP Bahay ng Alumni while he was speaking with an unidentified party on his cellular phone.

Mendoza admitted that investigators are having a difficult time uncovering leads into the case because Lagman is known to have gained many enemies because of his links to the communist underground movement.

The PNP had earlier formed a special task force, called "Task Force Popoy" headed by National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) head

Director Edgar Aglipay, to lead the investigation.

But while police had released sketches of four suspects, Task Force Popoy officials declined to comment on whether they have uncovered new leads or have questioned additional witnesses.

"We are still in the process of gathering evidence for the probable identification of the perpetrators," Mendoza told reporters.

"He (Lagman) had a very colorful life and we are actually looking into all the angles on who might have been involved," he said.

"Everybody here is a suspect," he added "We are looking at everyone: the right, the left, the middle."

Killers were estranged friends?

Sources at the PNP Intelligence Group are also looking at the possibility that Lagman’s assassination was perpetrated by disgruntled members of a divided left-wing organization.

The source revealed that the communist "rejectionists" and "reaffirmists" are only two of the four well-organized groups that could have carried out Lagman’s assassination.

Sources said a breakaway faction, headed by Nilo de la Cruz and Arturo Tabara, is closely being watched.

Lagman, Tabara and De la Cruz are known to be Lagman’s colleagues in the communist hit squad Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) before a falling-out due to ideological differences.

The three broke away from the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) which they claimed to be outdated since it was being led by Holland-based exiles who were not attuned with the masses.

Lagman was the secretary of the CPP’s Manila-Rizal regional committee until his breakaway.

From The Hague, CPP chairman Jose Ma. Sison denied involvement in the Lagman killing and accused De la Cruz of wanting Lagman dead because of a dispute over alleged protection money.

De la Cruz denied the accusation and accused Sison of being the mastermind in the Lagman assassination.

The three led the formation of the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa-Revolutionary Proletariat Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPM-RPA-ABB).

In December last year, however, Lagman, who also led the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), denounced the group for entering into a peace agreement with the Estrada regime.

Since last year, he had been wanted by courts in Manila and Las Piñas City for the killing of a barangay official in Quiapo and a suspected drug lord in Las Piñas.

Right before his death, he was organizing the Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PMP) or, Filipino Workers Party, and a new urban hit squad Armadong Partisano ng Paggawa (APP) or, Armed Labor Partisans.

The PMP was set to hold a founding congress simultaneously in at least three major cities in Mindanao.

Pro-Estrada forces behind killing?

At the same time, sources from the military intelligence community said Lagman’s killing was the handiwork of hit squads formed by pro-Estrada groups to destabilize the government.

"We have received that information and we are now closely verifying it," a ranking official of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) said.

The source said military and police officials received intelligence reports two weeks ago indicating that the group has been recruiting members in destabilizing and toppling the Arroyo administration.

The hit squads were recruited from active and former military personnel, remnants of the Kuratong Baleleng Gang and other criminal elements in Mindanao, the source added.

The group initially wanted to stage a coup d’etat but could not muster enough support so they shifted their strategy to fielding urban hit squads "to create mayhem," the source said.

Reportedly included in the hit lists are Cabinet members and "forces responsible for EDSA II" and aims to create the same climate that prevailed during the early months of the Aquino administration.

In a separate interview, ISAFP chief Col. Victor Corpuz said the intelligence agency is narrowing down its investigation into the killing of Lagman to one but refused to identify the suspect.

"We cannot disclose the details of our investigation because this might alarm our target," Corpus said, adding ISAFP is closely coordinating with the PNP on the investigation.

Meanwhile, the right-wing Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabayan (RAM) denied involvement in Lagman’s killing and expressed satisfaction at how the government was handling the national situation.

"We have been allies even before EDSA II," said RAM spokesman Capt. Proceso Maligalig, adding that it does not seem likely that the military would be involved in such a crime.

Lagman’s supporters, on the other hand, are more interested in why Lagman was killed rather than who was responsible for the crime.

"We are focusing on why Lagman was killed rather than who killed him," said BMP Mindanao coordinator Dan Bernardo, adding the PMP’s founding congresses will push through on Feb. 12 in the cities of Iligan, Davao and Zamboanga.

As the police and military continue in their probe, legislators are pushing for the early solution of the assassination to bolster the gains so far achieved under the Arroyo administration.

"If the perpetrators of this crime are not apprehended, it will reflect negatively not only on the PNP and National Bureau of Investigation But on the new administration as well," said former Speaker and Las Piñas Rep. Manny Villar.

Sen. Ramon Magsaysay also urged the ISAFP to come up with good intelligence that would be useful in solving the crime.

Magsaysay urged ISAFP chief Corpuz to personally supervise the probe on the Lagman killing.

"Corpuz is in the neutral ground that knows the ins and outs of the rebel movement and the military," he said, adding that Corpuz had been a government mole in the CPP-NPA and would have contacts that would be useful in the investigation.

Meanwhile, over 50,000 workers are expected to attend the funeral march for Lagman, said party-list Rep. Renato Magtubo said yesterday.

Necrological services for Lagman will be held at 3 p.m. on Monday followed by the funeral march from Bahay ng Alumni to the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina.

"His funeral will be one of the biggest rallies ever and we will make sure that his very last project – the Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PMP) – will be a success," Magtubo said.

Magtubo said the PMP will be officially launched on the day of Lagman’s funeral at the very place where the labor leader was slain. — With reports from Mayen Jaymalin, Romel Bagares, Perseus Echeminada, Lino de la Cruz