Murder charges filed vs Sison, other Reds over 'killing fields'

DAVAO CITY - Relatives of 19 people slain by communist rebels in their drive against military spies in the 1980s filed multiple murder charges yesterday against Communist Party of the Philippines' officials Jose Ma. Sison and Luis Jalandoni and three local leaders of the New People's Army (NPA).

The skeletal remains of the 19 people were unearthed along with the skulls and bones of several other victims of the NPA's "Operation Zombie" in mass graves in Cagayan de Oro City.

The relatives of the NPA victims were accompanied by about 500 residents of Barangay Taglimao in a rally denouncing NPA atrocities along Cagayan de Oro's main thoroughfares before proceeding to the city prosecutor's office to file the charges.

Aside from Sison and Jalandoni, both in exile in the Netherlands, also charged were rebel commanders Loreto Cagais, Sammy Buntag and Meriam Purcray, who were believed to have led the "Operation Zombie" killings between 1985 and 1986.

Authorities are set to arrest the three as soon as the court issues their warrants of arrest. Purcray has remained underground, but Cagais and Buntag have been granted amnesty and are reportedly working in a poultry farm.

Lt. Gen. Edgardo Espinosa, chief of the Armed Forces' Southern Command, said several witnesses led authorities to the NPA "killing fields" in Barangay Taglimao in Cagayan de Oro City where the skeletal remains of at least 416 people have been dug up since last year.

According to the Army's 4th Infantry Division, the NPA killed more than 4,000 people under its Operation Zombie.

Of the number, the military, however, said only 15 were really "deep penetration agents (DPAs)."

Last Saturday, the skeletal remains of at least 50 NPA victims were exhumed in Sitio Bitaog in Barangay Taglimao. They were given proper burial yesterday morning.