DAVAO CITY – Agusan del Sur Mayor Dario Otaza, 57 and his son Daryl, 27, were found dead with multiple gunshot wounds in different parts of their bodies by the Army’s 23rd Infantry Battalion in Barangay Bitan-agan, Butuan City at 6:50 am Tuesday.
The Otazas were taken Monday evening in Baan, Butuan City by armed men who identified themselves as members of the National Bureau of Investigation.
The Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command (EMC) issued a statement on Tuesday to condemn the New People’s Army for the killing.
Authorities said the men used a black Starex van with plate number KDG 179 which was reportedly recovered in Barangay Dulag, Butuan City.
Mayor Otaza, “was instrumental in the surrender of 154 NPA members during the “Pagbabalik-Loob” in Agusan del Sur last year,” said Captain Alberto Caber, chief of Public Information Office of the EMC.
He said the Caraga police is currently conducting investigation on the incident.
In April last year, the NPA issued a statement tagging Otaza as “behind the indiscriminate logging and continued destruction of forests,” and thus faces “NPA sanction.” (davaotoday.com)
