Reds rapped for Cagayan torture-killings

ANGELES CITY — The Armed Forces’ Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) has accused the New People’s Army (NPA) of executing two innocent civilians and a soldier whose bodies were found in Baggao, Cagayan last Nov. 6.

In a press statement, the Nolcom said residents found the bodies of Pfc. Perfecto Reyes and civilians Faustino Baraquel and Randy Rono at the boundary of Barangays Dalin and Sta. Maria and immediately informed authorities about them.

The Nolcom said the bodies bore "clear signs of NPA brutality" — multiple gunshot wounds and evidence of torture.

The military command likened the killing to that of Pvt. Marlon Laggui, who was also reportedly executed by the NPA in San Mariano, Isabela recently.

Laggui, it said, had a "blackened neck" due to heavy blows, abrasions on the chin and multiple gunshot wounds all over the body.

While the NPA’s Fortunato Camus Command had issued a statement denying that Laggui was tortured, it reportedly admitted executing him as punishment for his alleged "crimes against the people," the Nolcom said.

Maj. Gen. Samuel Bagasin, commander of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division, bewailed the NPA’s "wanton disregard for human rights while professing to safeguard the rights of the people."

Bagasin ordered his troops to be "doubly vigilant so that no incidents of such nature will happen again." — Ding Cervantes