Gov’t ready to secure Negros exec hunted by NPA

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines – Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the government is willing to provide protection to a Negros Occidental vice mayor who was included in the “arrest warrants” which the New People’s Army (NPA) has issued for the killing of Kabankalan City judge Henry Arles in April last year.

“We own the brand, law and order is our brand. It is not any other people’s brand, any other rebels’ or group’s brand,” Lacierda said Thursday in Malacañang, when asked if he thinks the NPA threat against a duly elected official was an insult to the government’s mandate to maintain peace and order, according to a report of Journal Online yesterday.

Last Tuesday, the NPA’s Apolinario Gatmaitan Command said in a statement that its regional revolutionary court on Negros Island had issued “warrants of arrest” against eight suspects in the Arles killing.

Its spokesman, Juanito Magbanua II, said they had launched a manhunt for Ilog town Vice Mayor John Paul Alvarez (who was Ilog mayor at the time of the Arles killing); Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade members Marvin Salve, Gerald Tabujara, Jessie Daguia, Eddie Fortunado, Alejandro Capunong, and Rustom Puro; and Emmanuel Medes, an administrative aide of the Ilog municipal government, for their alleged role in the killing.

The mayor of Ilog town now is Genaro Rafael Alvarez, John Paul’s brother.

The NPA also summoned former Negros Occidental vice governor Genaro Alvarez Jr. to appear before its “court” for questioning on the alleged participation of his son, John Paul, in the slay.

The Army and the police have questioned the legality of the NPA “arrest warrants.”

In a statement Thursday, Col. Jon Aying, commander of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Brigade based in Murcia, Negros Occidental, said, “Who are they? What authority, legality and morality do they have to judge people? How can lawless individuals place justice on their hands? This is just a manifestation of the kind of government they aim to put up. What are these lawless people leading to?”

For his part, Senior Superintendent Milko Lirazan, acting Negros Occidental police director, said on Wednesday the NPA has no authority to issue “arrest warrants” because there is only one Philippine government.

He added that any arrests the NPA makes will violate Philippine laws and charges can be filed against the rebel group.

Lirazan said they have not received any request for security from Vice Mayor Alvarez. He, however, said he has ordered the Ilog police to intensify their intelligence monitoring to prevent other groups from taking advantage of the issue.

Alan Gozon, vice chairman of the Negros Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, said the NPA gathered its evidence based on hearsay and not on facts.

“They are not (the) police. They are not even a legitimate court,” Gozon said in a statement Wednesday.