Bayan Muna leader found dead

A provincial coordinator of the militant party-list group Bayan Muna in Isabela, who was reported missing last March 20, was found dead, his body dumped in a shallow grave in Ifugao.

Karapatan, a human rights group, said the body of Warlito Nagasao, 46, was found by a group of children in Sitio Pa—yong, Anfonsolista, Ifugao hours after he was reportedly abducted from his home in Echague, Isabela.

It was, however, only last Tuesday when Nagasao’s family learned about his fate when the Ifugao police brought his remains to Isabela.

Nagasao is reportedly the fifth local Bayan Muna leader who has gone missing since last month. The fate of the four others remains unknown.

According to Karapatan, the Ifugao children saw seven men unload Nagasao’s body from a vehicle and dump it in Sitio Payong.

The human rights group claimed that the vehicle was similar to the one which Naga—sao’s abductors, also numbering seven, dragged him into at about 3 a.m. last March 20.

Karapatan alleged that the men behind Nagasao’s abduction and "salvaging" (summary execution) were members of the Army’s 45th Infantry Battalion.

A day after the Bayan Muna leader went missing, Karapatan said a certain Maj. Francis Cabugon allegedly told Elena Mendiola, secretary-general of Bayan Muna-Isabela, that "if they were told that the victim would be brought back, then he (Nagasao) would be brought back."

Bayan Muna leaders in Isabela, for their part, have blamed the provincial police for Nagasao’s killing. But the police denied the allegation, with Karapatan quoting some police officials as reportedly saying that it could be the handiwork of a "military intelligence group."

Last Feb. 4, armed men, suspected to be soldiers, seized small entrepreneur Rowena Bayani, 32, and tricycle driver Edwin Villaruz, 36, in Barangay Cabituculan West in Maria Aurora town in Aurora province.

Five days later, Juan Orcino Jr., 43, and Honorio Ayroso, 34, were allegedly abducted in Barangay San Isidro in Caba—natuan City, Nueva Ecija.

All four are affiliated with Bayan Muna chapters in Central and Northern Luzon.