Ambush victims buried: Gov Marañon calls NPA ‘irresponsible’

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Eight of the nine fatalities of the Jan. 27 ambush in La Castellana, Negros Occidental have been buried over the weekend, with their families still crying for justice.

Buried at the public cemetery in Brgy. Cabacungan of La Castellana were slain civilians Joselito Lucban, Virginia Ordoñez, and truck driver Enrique Dingcong; tanods Timoteo Esplegera and Ulysses Tamayor; and BPAT members Ramil Compleza, Mario Ricablanca and Jonathan Mateo. The slain policeman, PO1 Richard Canja, will be buried on Feb. 9, his family said.

The burial of the five victims last Saturday and three others last Sunday turned out to be an indignation rally with a about 1,700 mourners and family members carrying placards expressing outrage over the incident.

Six days after the ambush, the NPA issued a statement admitting the crime and lapses on their part, but stressed they did not plan to stage it.

In an audio-recorded statement furnished the media Friday last week, Ka JB Regalado, spokesman for the NPA’s Leonardo Panaligan Command, said their only plan was to disarm policemen and armed BPAT members. He claimed that the NPA fired a warning shot to stop the truck but those in the truck opened fire at the rebels which triggered the shootout. He further denied they fired the victims at close range.

Senior Supt. Celestino Guara Jr., acting Negros Occidental Police director, refuted Regalado’s claims, saying that autopsy results showed the victims were shot at close range in the head. Guara added the policemen and BPAT members could not have fired first. “Who can fire first—the firearms held in ambush position or the firearms which are still in the holster?” he asked.

Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. yesterday said Regalado’s statements were “irresponsible.” He called the NPA leaders to discipline their men. “They should also surrender the perpetrators to bring justice to the victims,” he said, adding that the financial aid the rebels offered could not pay what was lost in the family.

The NPA had earlier offered compensation money to the families of the fatalities, saying they were trying to keep in touch with the families to extend their condolences and assistance. The families of the killed victims however rejected the rebels’ offer and demanded for justice instead.

Ma. Cecilia Dingcong, wife of the slain truck driver, said no amount of money could bring back the life of her husband. “I want justice and not their financial assistance,” she said during the burial Saturday. She described the massacre as “very brutal and inhumane.”

The NPA said it regreted that civilians became collateral damage to what could have been a simple and quick process of disarming the BPAT members and the policemen. It said it will assist the families of the civilian victims and take disciplinary action against their military unit responsible for the incident and its head under the principle of command responsibility, Regalado said.

Regalado apologized only for the death of civilians Ordonez and Dingcong, and the wounding of a 14-year-old boy and 11 others, during the incident in Brgy. Puso.

Col. Oscar Lactao, commander of the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade based in Murcia, Negros Occidental, also slammed the monetary payment of the NPA, saying, “It is not about money we are talking about here; it is about the loss of a loved one, of the victims’ right to live, and it is about justice. If NPA just pay damages to the victims’ families, will this justify that they can kill people unarmed and just compensate them with money?” he asked.

Guara said they are filing murder charges and attempted murder charges this week against at least 20 NPA members who are suspects in the brutal killing in La Castellana. (FREEMAN)