Mass grave with 67 skeletal remains discovered in Leyte

The military has recently discovered a mass grave with at least 67 skeletal remains in sitio Sapang Dako, Caulisihan, Inopacan, Leyte.

The skeletal remains were believed to be those of the victims of alleged atrocities committed by the New People's Army against the local folk sometime in the 1980s.

The military was able to discover the mass grave following the confession of Zacarias Peidad, a rebel returnee who was a member of the Evelyn Dublin Command of the Communist Party of the Philippines' Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee.

The mass grave was unearthed by the 43rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army's 8th Infantry Division last August 30 and 31 in the presence of military officials, relatives of the missing persons, and some residents of the barangay and nearby areas. At least eight of the victims were later identified.

The military had already discovered several mass graves of the NPA before, some of which had been part of the rebels' Kampanyang Ahos in Mindanao in 1985 and Operations Missing Link, Olympia and Zombie in Southern Tagalog in 1988.

In those campaigns, hundreds of communist insurgents suspected of having ties to the military were reportedly killed during the purging activities of the CPP-NPA.

Lt. Col. Oscar Lasangue said they are set to intensify their campaign against the NPA in the area with the discovery of the mass grave.

Over 200 persons who went missing from the neighboring barangays of Caulisihan were summarily executed by the NPA, according to their families. -

PR/LPM