50 Kintanar followers vow to avenge his death

At least 50 followers of slain former New People’s Army (NPA) leader Romulo Kintanar are ready to avenge his murder, sources in the intelligence community said yesterday.

The First Quarter Storm Foundation led by party-list Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales, on the other hand, urged leftist groups yesterday to avoid fratricidal violence while contributing to the solution of the murder.

Military and police intelligence agents are monitoring not just the movements of NPA guerrillas but also those of Kintanar’s followers, who vowed to exact revenge on his assailants.

Kintanar was shot dead by at least two gunmen while he was having lunch in a Japanese restaurant at the Quezon City Memorial Circle last Thursday.

The pronouncement made by Kintanar’s widow, Gloria "Joy" Jopson, shortly after the murder that her husband’s killers "will pay" is not being taken lightly by authorities.

"Joy is a former top member of the NPA, she still gets the highest regard among Kintanar’s colleagues and followers," a ranking intelligence official said.

Intelligence sources told The STAR that Kintanar had been warned several times that he was being targeted by his former colleagues in the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the NPA. Kintanar had reportedly given his followers specific orders on how to deal with his enemies.

"Tiyak na galit ang mga kasama ni Rolly (Rolly’s allies are surely mad)," said a ranking police official, adding that Kintanar’s allies were out to even things up. Another police officer said, "Iyan ang gusto nila, mag-tumbahan (That’s what they want, to eliminate each other)."

For his part, Philippine National Police (PNP) director for intelligence Chief Superintendent Robert Delfin warned any group planning to exact revenge for Kintanar’s death not to place justice in their hands.

"They should just let the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) work on this," he said.

Delfin added that it would be another headache for the government if lawlessness reigns as a result of the infighting between the members of the CPP-NPA and those who broke away from the movement.

PNP and AFP officials maintained that the CPP-NPA should be treated as terrorists.

In reaction to CPP-NPA spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Roger Rosal’s statements owning up to Kintanar’s killing, PNP intelligence group director Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal said the top CPP-NPA leaders, led by founding chairman Jose Ma. "Joma" Sison and Rosal, should be made to answer for the murder.

"We knew all along that Ka Roger is the implementor of the atrocities being ordered by Joma. He is responsible for all the liquidation activities and he should answer for all these criminal acts," Caringal said.

He added that Rosal, like any member of the communist group, should be treated like a terrorist.

"The (Filipino) people should realize that the CPP-NPA have nothing in mind but to terrorize. It only shows who they really are," Caringal said.

In a telephone interview with The STAR, Delfin said he was right all along when he said that the top CPP-NPA leadership had a hand in Kintanar’s killing.

"We know for a fact that the CPP-NPA is involved in it. The decision for this type of liquidation activity always comes from the political bureau of the CPP-NPA which includes Joma, Benito and Wilma Tiamson, and Leo Velasco," Delfin said.

Meanwhile, military intelligence chief Col. Victor Corpus said Rosal acts only upon the orders of Sison, who is in self-exile in the Netherlands. Corpus shrugged off reports that he was next on the NPA target list.

"This is part of the job. That is the risk we have to take," he said, refusing to comment further.

Tracking down the enemy

Prior to President Arroyo giving the PNP blanket authority to solve Kintanar’s killing, Delfin and Caringal said they have dispatched separate teams to track down, arrest and neutralize known enemies of the state.

Delfin said top NPA leaders have been the subject of case operations even before Kintanar’s murder.

The First Quarter Storm (FQS) Foundation, chaired by Loretta Ann Rosales, was shocked to learn that the CPP has claimed responsibility for the killing through a press statement issued yesterday through its website.

"We enjoin all those who believe in the rule of law and respect for human rights to condemn this dastardly act," Rosales said in a statement.

She noted that the CPP leadership justified the killing of Kintanar by a special NPA team as the "correct" punishment meted out for his "criminal and counter-revolutionary accountabilities."

The military and police should be "very thorough, respect due process and refrain from making sloppy conclusions without sufficient and substantive evidence, lest the investigative process result in a witch hunt and the gross abuse of human rights," Rosales said.

She appealed to other armed leftist groups to approach the situation with "largeness of mind" and to exercise restraint and prudence to avoid fratricidal violence while contributing to a just solution to Kintanar’s murder.

"We appeal to all leaders of the Left, many of whom are FQS veterans, to always remember that ideological and political differences, including a fair and honest accounting of the past, can only be truly resolved not by the use of violent force but by open, honest, rigorous and edifying discussion, dialogue and debate," Rosales said.

Kintanar, 50, was the head of security for the Bureau of Immigration and a consultant at the National Electrification Administration.

The two other victims in the shooting were identified as Edward Ruiz and Ricky Beltran, who police said, were not Kintanar’s companions and were hit with stray bullets.

A police source said Kintanar could have recognized his killers and tried to run away, which caused the injuries sustained by Ruiz and Beltran.

At the time of his death, Kintanar was also the consultant in peace talks between the RPA-Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) and the government.

In an interview with ABS-CBN a few hours before he was fatally shot, Kintanar said that what the RPA-ABB and government agreed upon may be implemented soon.

After several arrests and escapes from detention, Kintanar — who had apparently grown tired of the squabble within the CPP-NPA leadership — broke away from the mainstream guerrilla movement.

He later started to cooperate with the government until he officially surrendered.