• RICHARD T. CABALLERO JR.
Law enforcement agencies in Negros Occidental were now seeking to coordinate closely to probe the series of killings in the mountainous areas of the province.
The Negros Occidental Provincial Police Office (NOCPPO) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) conducted a conference on Tuesday to strategize their plans and actions to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The coordination stemmed from the incidents that occurred in the upland areas, where rebels have claimed responsibility for the killings of the victims.
The rebels claimed in their statements that their targets that they described as ‘traitors’ were killed due to their allegations that the latter were intelligence assets of the Philippine Army, among other reasons.
NOCPPO Spokesperson PCapt. Judges Catalogo said that one of the areas that they are considering is the town of Calatrava, where most of the rebel operations occurred.
The recent spate of killings in the province was recorded in the mountainous areas of Kabankalan City, Manapla, Toboso, Cauayan, and Calatrava, which were all claimed by the New People’s Army (NPA).
“They are former supporters of the NPA who turned back to the government. Some others were their former members who ceased supporting them, even though they did not turn themselves back to the government,” Catalogo said.*
