“I thought I was going to die,” said PO2 Boy de Castro, one of the four bodyguards of Lingig Mayor Roberto Luna on the day the New People’s Army released them after twelve days of captivity.
But De Castro said the NPA did not harm them.
De Castro and three other security escorts were with Mayor Luna when they were captured by the New People’s Army on May 5 at 6 o’ clock in the morning in an NPA checkpoint mounted along the Davao-Agusan highway in the village of Pasian, Monkayo in Davao del Norte. The NPAs also seized from them five M16 armalite rifle, two .45 calibre pistols, one 9mm. pistol and one .380 caliber pistol.
Roel Agustin II, spokesperson of the NPA’s Front 20 Conrado Heredia Command, said the NPA “arrested” Luna for keeping a platoon-sized private armies and armed caches. Agustin said Luna used the private army to harass the people in Lingig.
In an emailed statement, he said the ”masses of Lingig and some municipal officials filed several cases of harassment against Luna’s private armies before the people’s court”.
Lingig Mayor Roberto Luna on his way to the NPA campsite where he was released. (davaotoday.com photo)
Agustin said Luna’s admission and his public apology paved the way for his release.
“Luna admitted maintaining a large private armed group consisting of AFP and PNP elements and hired goons which he uses for his political and economic interests,” said Agustin.
But in an interview with the media, Luna denied having private armies. He said that after the NPAs disarmed him last year, all his firearms were already taken from him. He said the rest of his firearms were taken by the NPAs during his capture.
Luna won as vice mayor of Lingig in the recent polls. He said his victory was proof that he no longer needed private armies to rule because the ”people wanted him.”
He said he only keep ”enough firearms to protect himself.” Agustin said the ‘people’s court’ will also investigate other cases filed against Luna. These cases included the killing of former Lingig Mayor Amerosin V. Onsing in 2001 and of the Suazo brothers, Onsing’s supporters, in Barangay Union, also of Boston town, in 2007.’Luna also had to answer for the alleged land-grabbing of 30-hectare peasant lands in Pagbacatan village and in Dahican Island in Surigao del Norte ; environmentally destructive logging; and anomalies involving 129-million-peso waterways loan in Landbank.
The NPA said Luna and his four bodyguards were released for humanitarian reasons. The NPA took into consideration Luna’s health and the appeals made by his and the soldiers’ families and friends.
But Luna said the NPA’s accusations were only invented against him by his political enemies.
Luna and his four bodyguards in a tent the NPAs built for them. (davaotoday.com photo)
Luna said he already explained his side and that he was glad the NPAs listened. The NPA said that despite Luna’s release, the NPA’s “legal and judicial procedures” will continue to work on Luna’s case.
“Only his custodial detention is terminated,” Agustin said, “As for the four POWs, the investigation shall be suspended.”
The NPA told Luna to refrain from harming peasants and Lumads
and to make amends to those he wronged.
But the NPA also warned that they will take ”necessary measures and disciplinary actions” should Luna and the four POWs commit crimes against the people, “the revolutionary movement” and the environment.
Luna called for the resumption of the stalled peace talks between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) to prevent further fighting and bloodshed.
He said the NPA has a cause to fight and has their own set of principles. He also called on the national government to address the problems of the farmers and look into the agricultural sector of the economy.
Luna was turned over to Surigao del Sur governor-elect Johnny Pimentel, other local government officials of Surigao del Sur and the convenors of Exodus for Justice and Peace, who facilitated the release (Grace S. Uddin/davaotoday.com)
