• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion denounced remnants of the New People’s Army for their killing spree in northern Negros, where they shamelessly bragged of the taking of lives of innocent civilians in the past several months.
In separate statements, the NPA Roselyn Jean Pelle Command recently owned up to the killing of Juvinie Sarona and Eduardo Continedo Baynosa in Toboso, Negros Occidental.
Lt. Col. Arnel Calaoagan, 79IB commander, said “this audacious admission, devoid of any remorse, lays bare their ruthless nature and alarming disregard to human life.”
Sarona, who was labeled by Ka Cecil Estrella as a member of as a member of a gun-for-hire group and a land grabber, among other allegations, is a threat to their futile and deadly cause, as he supported the government peace, progress and development initiatives, and the transformation of former rebels by employing them in his furniture shop and other businesses, Calaoagan said.
Beyond the multiple threats he got, Sarona did not give in to NPA extortion demands, he added.
Calaoagan further said that Baynosa, a former NPA member, was also sentenced to death, as he had chosen peace over violence.
Others victims of NPA atrocities, whose deaths claimed by the same rebel group, include Edilberto Oreta, Angelo Dela Cruz of Sitio Camao both from Brgy. Marcelo, Elisio Mahilum and Felix Resutay, both ordinary farmers of Sitio Batyogon, Brgy. Minapasuk, and Joemarie Nabises, also of Brgy. Cambayobo, all in Calatrava, Negros Occidental, the Army official said.
The CPP-NPA-NDF, Calaoagan added, has demonstrated the extent of their ruthlessness, not just towards those they label as “enemies,” but even towards their own members.
The CPP-NPA often justify their actions by labeling their victims as criminals, traitors, or assets of the military. However, these allegations are often baseless and serve only as a cover up to mask the brutality of their actions, he further said.*
