PNP tags ‘NPA murder squad’ in Catamin’s death

By Jennifer P. Rendon

 

Amid accusations and counteraccusations, the Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 believes that rebel forces were behind the killing of a village official in Tapaz, Capiz.

In a press statement, PRO-6 cited Captain Genesis Roque, Calinog police chief, who claimed that there is a possibility that the New People’s Army’s Special Partisan Unit (SPARU) is behind the ruthless killing of Barangay Captain Julie Catamin of Roosevelt village in Tapaz.

The 49-year-old Catamin was repeatedly shot dead by two motorcycle-riding men at Barangay Malitbog Centro, Calinog, Iloilo, on February 28, 2021.

According to Roque, Catamin has been receiving deaths threats from the CPP-NPA during the time when the Community Support Program (CSP) teams of the Philippine Army and the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 6 were deployed in the area.

As of now, “the case is still under investigation and follow-ups are being done in the area,” he said.

Earlier, the Calinog Police Station said it is looking at other angles behind the assassination.

Some groups, though, claimed that it could have something to do with Catamin acting as a witness to the bloody December 30 firearm raids in Tapaz, Capiz.

But both police and military officials said that Catamin was actively supporting Executive Order No. 70, the government’s program to end local communist armed conflict.

His role was crucial in the declaration of the CPP-NPA as “persona non-grata” in Barangay Roosevelt after the passing of the resolution on Sept. 15, 2020.

Catamin had also actively involved himself, along with his constituents in the series of activities initiated by the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict 6 (RTF-ELCAC6) in Calinog and Tapaz towns.

Meanwhile, a Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) will be formed in a bid to solve the case.

“With the SITG, mas mapapabilis at matutukan ang pagsasagawa ng imbestigasyon,” Brigadier General Rolando Miranda, Western Visayas police chief, said.

Aside from hastening the conduct of the investigation, the creation of an SITG will maximize the utilization of the investigative resources of all units involved.