NPA command owns up to gunslaying of ex-Army officer, aide

TARLAC CITY - The Josepino Corpuz Command of the New People's Army (NPA) has owned up to Tuesday's killing of former Army Maj. Leodegario Adalem, who was implicated in the murder of Ifugao tribal leader Macli-ing Dulag in 1980.

Jose Agtalon, spokesman of the NPA command that also has jurisdiction over some Northern Luzon provinces, said Adalem finally faced "revolutionary justice" for the murder of Dulag, who had led his tribesmen in opposing the projects of Cellophil Resources and the proposed 1,000-megawatt Chico River hydroelectric dam of the National Power Corp. in the Cordilleras.

Adalem, along with his driver-aide Tomas Pangilinan, said to be an "asset" of the National Bureau of Investigation, was gunned down by at least six men last Tuesday at the gate of the National Irrigation Administration's provincial office in Barangay Maliwalo here.

Adalem died on the spot, while Pangilinan succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds before arriving at the Ramos General Hospital.

Before the gunmen peppered Adalem's car with caliber .45 bullets, one of them shouted: "Huwag kayong makialam, mga NPA kami.  Si Adalem lang ang kailangan namin (Don't interfere, we are NPAs. We only want Adalem)."

The assassins, described to be in their early 20's, were initially believed to be members of the NPA's Tarlac-based hit squad, the Santiago-De Guzman Brigade.

Despite the NPA's admission, Superintendent Maximo Calimlim, provincial police director, said they are still looking into other angles to the case.

"Madali naman kasing sabihing 'NPA kami,' lalo na kapag gusto ng mga killers na iligaw ang imbestigasyon (It is easy to say 'We are NPAs,' especially if the killers want to mislead the investigation)," he said.

According to Calimlim, another possible angle to the killing is Adalem's involvement in the bidding of some project components of the multibillion-peso Balog-Balog irrigation dam project in San Jose town.

Adalem had just filed his bid for the dam project when he and Pangilinan were killed.

Calimlim said investigators are also looking into Adalem's alleged involvement in several criminal activities in the province.

Police intelligence operatives said Adalem's name had cropped up when authorities cracked down on two big-time gun-for-hire syndicates, the Bagay and Pugad Lawin groups, which were mainly composed of discharged soldiers and policemen. The two gangs were also involved in gunrunning and kidnapping.

Last year, a police raid on his house at Filomena Subdivision in Barangay San Rafael here yielded several unlicensed high-powered firearms and ammunition.

Meanwhile, Pangilinan had been charged with homicide for the death in 1998 of a jeepney driver, whom he allegedly shot dead over a minor traffic altercation. He was out on bail when he and Adalem were killed.

Calimlim said police have taken into custody the driver of the tricycle that was commandeered by Adalem's assassins after the killing.

He said the tricycle driver, whom he refused to identify, admitted to bringing the gunmen to Pura town.

Adalem's remains were brought by his relatives to his hometown of Zaragoza in Nueva Ecija.