The New People’s Army confirmed that it was holding as prisoner a government soldier and released on Thursday night a video clip of the soldier in Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental.
After the massive funeral march tribute for the slain New People’s Army commander, Leoncio “Ka Parago” Pitao, armed New People's Army guerrillas also paid their last tribute to Ka Parago with the honorary 21-gun salute in the foothills of Mt. Apo on Sunday.
The attendance of an estimated 10,000 individuals in the funeral march of a fallen rebel commander is a “reflection” of the New Peoples Army’s strength of its mass base here, a prominent militant leader said.
The tribute program for fallen New People's Army commander Leoncio "Ka Parago" Pitao opened with a song themed with what has been a monicker of communist guerillas, that they are "soldiers of the poor."
The New People's Army confirmed the death of Commander Parago by a combined Army task force in Paquibato Sunday.