Informant awarded P1M for NPA leader’s death
A 27-year-old former rebel belonging to a guerrilla front operating in Negros Oriental was rewarded P1 million by the Central Command for giving information that led to the death of a known rebel leader in Negros last year.
The reward was given to the informant in Central Command by Centcom commanding general Lt. Gen. Victor Ibrado for his cooperation with the Army Scout Rangers that led to an encounter between soldiers and rebels last July 26 in sitio Lagoc, barangay Menchaca, Calatrava in Negros Oriental.
Leopoldo Illustrisimo who also goes under the aliases “Akoy”, “Redskie” and “Mayo” was killed in that encounter.
“This shows us that if we have the cooperation of the population we can get very good information that could lead to neutralization of insurgencies in the area. But this could only happens when there’s good cooperation between the soldiers and the populace, which can also only happen if the soldiers are behaving well, they are protecting the people and not abusing them,” Ibrado said.
While Ibrado said the Department of National Defense lately restored the reward system he said money should not be the main motivator for one to report rebel activities to the government but rather the desire to help the government.
“We should look at this not in the amount of money that he received... I think we should look at the money as only incidental, the important things there is the cooperation and willingness of the informant to give as the information. Somehow our civilian population should cooperate with our armed forces to eliminate all the threats in their area,” Ibrado explained.
The media was not allowed to talk to the former rebel-turned-informant for his own protection. It was reported he was a rebel for five years.
Ibrado said former rebels who have returned to the fold of the law mostly said their reason for coming back was the hardship of living in the mountains, food shortages and constant anti-insurgency military operations.
Ibrado added the AFP will provide adequate security for returnees and provide them training for livelihood programs with the help of the Department of Social Welfare and Development so they can be integrated back to society.
Illustrisimo, a native from Hacienda Pula, barangay Esutaquio Lopez,
He led the Larangan Gerilya 3; Larangan Gerilya 4 as the Deputy Secretary of Preparatory Front ; he was arrested by 11th Infantry Battalion in 2005 but was released due to lack of evidence and was demoted to the rank of squad leader because of this and became the squad leader of “Baking” Squad, a position he held until his death.
He is said to have two sons who are now both squad leaders in various rebel fronts in
Meanwhile, the Central Command claimed the AFP has “dismantled” five of the 13 guerrilla fronts nationwide last year and killed or arrested 473 rebels.
Officials claimed there is only one guerrilla front that is still in operation in the region.
Ibrado said the rebels are making it appear that their group is gaining support from the masses and additional rebel fronts are being organized.
Another military official who requested anonymity said in
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