BOTH the Philippine Army and suspected front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) have accused each other of being behind the killing on Sunday, February 28, 2021, of a woman village chief in Tapaz, Capiz.
In a statement, BGen. Marion Sison, commander of the 301st Brigade, Third Infantry Division, vowed to pursue the quest for justice of the family Bgy. Roosevelt chair, Julie Catamin, describing her as an “ally” and a “peace advocate.”
“Under her leadership, Bgy. Roosevelt declared the CPP-NPA as ‘Persona Non-Grata’ (PNG) on September 15, 2020, and has always been supportive of E.O. 70,” Sison said, referring to Pres. Duterte’s creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
Catamin was alone on board a motorcycle when two motor-riding suspects. (RIT) gunned her down in the town of Calinog, Iloilo.
“As fellow workers in the government, we vow to bring to justice these CPP NPA terrorists and that your work here on earth inspires us to exert some more effort in our fight for true and genuine peace,” the military official added, concluding the victim was assaulted by communist gunmen.
But in a news report of the incident filed by ‘bulatlat.com,’ a media entity allegedly created by the CPP, it blamed the government, particularly, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), as behind the murder of Catamin.
The article noted that during the controversial police operation in Tapaz last December 30, 2020, where 9 alleged communists were killed and several more arrested, Catamin had protested the arrest of four of her village mates.
Catamin was also purportedly informed by her neighbors that armed men claiming they were from the CIDG are looking for her.
The article also quoted a statement on the incident released by ‘Pamanggas,’ a local peasant group who believed the murder was “government-perpetrated.”
“Ito ay para busalan ang kapitan at para din takutin ang mamamayan na nagnanais na ihayag ang katotohanan sa nangyaring pagpatay sa siyam na Tumandok at pag-aresto sa 16 na iba pa,” the article quoted the group.