BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Police have filed murder charges against seven suspected members of the New People’s Army for the August 26 killing of Lalong barangay captain Benjamen Javoc, disclosed provincial police spokesman PLt. Judesses Catalogo yesterday.
Catalogo said that the murder charges were filed at the Negros Occidental Provincial Prosecutor’s Office on September 2, before the Roselyn Jean Pelle Command – Northern Negros Guerilla Front, the declaration that they were responsible for the death of Javoc.
He, however, withheld the identities of the seven respondents in the murder charges, in order to protect the witnesses whose lives may put in danger, due to possible retaliation from the New People’s Army.
Lt. Col. J Jay Javines, 79th Infantry Battalion commander, tagged the group of rebel remnants under the leadership of Roger Fabellar, with aliases Arnel Tapang and Jong, as behind the killing Javoc and the summary execution of two other innocent civilians who the rebels alleged as military informants.
Catalogo maintained that the shooting incidents that took place in the hinterlands are isolated cases, stressing that Negros Occidental remains generally peaceful.
Javines disclosed that remnants of the dismantled Northern Negros Front, also known as the Roselyn Jean Pelle Command, particularly the group of Fabellar, are terrorizing those who are not supporting them and are supporting the government efforts in bringing development in the countryside, through the TF ELCAC (Task Force Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict).
The Peace and Order Council of Calatrava recently held a special meeting, as requested by the 79th Infantry Battalion, to address the increasing number of shooting incidents in the town’s hinterlands.
Javines stressed the need for all barangay officials and town residents to immediately report the presence of any armed groups in their respective communities, as he also reported the increase in bounty for the arrest of Fabellar.
An amount of P300,000 is being offered for the apprehension of Fabellar, according to Javines.
Calatrava Mayor Marilyn Era, who presided over the Municipal Peace and Order Council meeting on Sept. 2 at the municipal evacuation center, said that all shooting incidents are being investigated by concerned authorities.
Era also ordered the Calatrava police to further intensify security through the conduct of visibility operations and checkpoints, in coordination with the Philippine Army.
As to the killing of Cabcab barangay chairman Danilo Dautil in Isabela town, Catalogo said the police is now ready to file charges against the suspects, in coordination with the family of the victim.*
