'Thoroughly probe slay of NPA leader's daughter'

MANILA, Philippines - The government peace panel asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday to thoroughly investigate the kidnap-slay of the 21-year-old daughter of New People’s Army commander Leoncio Pitao in Davao City last week.

The body of Rebelyn Pitao was found in a river in Carmen, Davao del Norte barely 24 hours after she was seized by armed men in Davao City last Wednesday night.

Annabelle Abaya, the government panel’s spokeswoman, also urged the public to desist from speculations as to who might have perpetrated the crime.

“A blaming environment only creates defensiveness and prevents those concerned from focusing their full energies on hunting down the perpetrators,” Abaya said.

“This ghastly act and all atrocities have no place in our democratic space. All peace-loving Filipinos are enjoined to reject violence and the cycle of aggression that it breeds,” she added.

Abaya called on the PNP “to pursue with urgency the investigation of the case and arrest with dispatch the perpetrators of the crime.”

“We also call on the Department of Justice to cooperate with the government’s security forces to bring the vile criminals to the bar of justice and to provide protection to witnesses,” she said.

Abaya appealed to the public for information that could lead to the immediate resolution of the killing.

The government peace panel and its human rights monitoring committee “stand ready to accept information, coordinate action between the public and the government, and to augment multisectoral efforts that would lead to the solution of the crime,” Abaya said.