NPA rebels to try captive Surigao mayor for murder

MANILA, Philippines - A town mayor of Surigao del Sur kidnapped in Monkayo, Compostela Valley on Wednesday morning will be tried for alleged murder and other crimes, communist rebels said yesterday.

A New People’s Army (NPA) band seized Mayor Roberto Luna of Lingig town and his four security escorts – two soldiers and two policemen.

Regional NPA spokesman Simon Santiago said in a statement on the insurgents’ website that Luna will be tried for the 2001 killing of a former Lingig mayor, the 2007 slay of two men from the same town, and alleged graft in a government waterways project.

Government prosecutors have dismissed all criminal charges against Luna related to the killings, but the alleged graft in the waterways project is still being investigated.

A crisis committee headed by Surigao del Sur Gov. Vicente Pimentel Jr. is now looking into Luna’s kidnapping.

But Senior Superintendent Nestor Monton Fajura, operations chief of the Caraga police, said they are having a problem with operational procedures since Luna and his escorts were seized outside their area of jurisdiction.

“As of press time, Mayor Luna is still considered missing or a victim of abduction,” Fajura said.

In a report, Senior Superintendent Aaron Aquino, Compostela Valley police director, said some 30 NPA rebels headed by a certain Ka Daryl occupied a national road at the boundary of Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur and held all motorists passing through the area searching for firearms in their vehicles.

The area is one of the busiest national roads in Mindanao since it is only one leading to Davao City for motorists coming from the Caraga region.

A three-term mayor, Luna is now running for vice mayor of Lingig town, together with his mayoral running mate, councilor Henry Santos Dano.

In the 2004 elections, suspected rebels kidnapped Luna due to alleged illegal logging but freed him three days later. – AP, Ben Serrano, Edith Regalado and Nonong Baliao