NPA claims killing of ex-RPA member in Binalbagan

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — The Romeo Nanta Command-New People’s Army South Central Negros Guerrilla Front claimed responsibility for the killing of a former member of the Rebolusyonaryong Partidong Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade in Purok Vanda, Barangay Santol, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, on Tuesday.

In a statement released Wednesday, Ka Dionesio Magbuelas, the rebel group’s spokesperson, confirmed the killing of Joseph Agustin, tagging him as an alleged intelligence asset of the military.

According to a police investigation, the 38-year-old victim was walking from the barangay proper toward his home when an unidentified person waylaid and shot him several times.

Police Capt. Joelan Vinson, chief of the Binalbagan Municipal Police Station, said the victim may have been tailed or monitored by the perpetrator.

The victim succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds to the head and body.

Recovered from the scene were six fired bullets from a .45-caliber firearm.

Despite the admission, Vinson said police will continue probing the incident because they cannot merely rely on the NPA’s pronouncement.

He said it was just the NPA’s claim, and investigators will look for possible witnesses to identify the perpetrators and establish the motive.

This is the third insurgency-related incident in the town since March, following incidents involving a farmer and a former councilor of Isabela town, according to Vinson.

The RPA-ABB is a breakaway group of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army, which split in 1996 due to ideological differences.

In 2000, the RPA-ABB signed a peace agreement with the national government under then-President Joseph Estrada.

In September 2019, former President Rodrigo Duterte led the formal demilitarization of former RPM-P/RPA-ABB combatants in Camp Peralta.

The recent incident follows two other killings claimed by the NPA in Calatrava town this month.