DAVAO CITY–The body of the daughter of a high-ranking New People’s Army commander in Southern Mindanao was found floating in an irrigation canal in Carmen town, Davao del Norte barely 24 hours after she was abducted.
Covered with mud and almost without clothing in her upper body, Rebelyn Pitao, daughter of NPA leader Leoncio Pitao also known here as “Kumander Parago,” suffered four stab wounds on her left chest. Her eyes were mangled and a hard object was found inserted in her private parts. Autopsy report said she died of strangulation.
Her mother, Evangeline Pitao, blamed the Armed Forces of the Philippines behind the killing. “If they’re running after my husband, why do they have to take my daughter?” she asked, when she first learned about her daughter’s abduction. She turned hysterical after learning about her daughter’s death.
Rebelyn was abducted on her way home at around 6:30 pm Wednesday while boarding a tricycle in Talomo. She has been teaching at the St. Peter’s College. The village where her body was found was about 50 kilometers away from where she was abducted.
Raffy Agres, a farmer, saw her body near the NIA irrigation system in Purok 5 in San Isidro village of Davao del Norte’s Carmen town.
Her death represented an ugly turn in the long running war between the government and the 40-year old Communist insurgency. The NPA blamed the military for the “barbaric” act but the military denied involvement.
Rebelyn’s body now lies at Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Davao City.(Grace Uddin/davaotoday.com)
Extrajudicial Killings
