Killings purportedly perpetrated by the rebel New People’s Army in Negros have risen by as much as 167 percent this year compared to last year, the Philippine Army reported recently. {{more}}
The 16th victim this year, a certain Veteliano Jackusalem, 48, of Sitio Candalanon, Barangay Trinidad in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, was killed by armed men who claimed to be members of the NPA’s hit squad, the Special Partisan Unit.
Jackusalem was gunned down by suspected NPA hitmen at a flea market in Sitio Casingan Sunday. He became the 16th victim of the so-called “liquidation” activities of the NPA. Two others, Eulalio Bragazo and Rene “Toto” Quirante, were shot dead earlier also in Guihulngan.
A press statement from the 11th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army based in Guihulnga said that his death added to the alarming rise in the number of civilians killed by the NPA.
Jackusalem was believed targeted by the NPA for his perceived association with soldiers and policemen in Guihulngan. He was an NPA rebel before he availed of government amnesty, and has returned to mainstream society.
Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Ramil Bitong, 11th IB commander, said in the press statement that it is now apparent that the NPA is again implementing a purging of its own ranks. “I just hope that the NPAs would spare helpless civilians from their brutality”, Bitong said.
He reiterated his call to the self- proclaimed human rights advocates to look into the recent spate of killings in Guihulngan perpetrated by the NPA.
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