MANILA, Philippines - From an anti-communist vigilante group, police said the Parojinogs morphed into a criminal gang and parlayed their notoriety into politics.
Yesterday, police shot dead Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. and his brother, Misamis Occidental board member Octavio Jr. The mayor’s daughter, Vice Mayor Nova Princess Echavez, and son Reynaldo Jr. were arrested.
Is it the end for one of the country’s political dynasties?
The mayor’s wife Susan and 12 others were also killed in raids for illegal drugs and loose firearms conducted by police on the family’s residences in San Roque Lawis in Ozamiz City before dawn yesterday.
Reynaldo Sr. and his daughter ran unopposed as mayor and vice mayor, respectively in last year’s local elections under the National Unity Party (NUP).
Based on reports, it was in 2001 when Reynaldo Sr. first ran for mayor and won after being an active barangay official beginning in 1998.
Members of his family also became politicians in Ozamiz City and the province of Misamis Occidental through the years.
But their life story as a family has always been hounded by controversy, the latest of which was when President Duterte linked Parojinog to the illegal drug trade.
Reynaldo Sr. denied this and a relative told The STAR in a telephone interview that the slain mayor was one of those fighting the proliferation of illegal drugs in their area.
Reynaldo Sr. was one of the sons of the late Octavio “Ongkoy” Parojinog Sr., founder of the Kuratong Baleleng originally composed of militiamen and soldiers, and was organized by the military to go after the communist New People’s Army in Mindanao in 1986.
A Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism report in 2004 said while the Kuratong Baleleng was a notorious group of bank robbers who met a bloody end in a supposed shootout with the police one May morning in 1995 in Quezon City for most Filipinos, it was said to be well-loved — and well-connected in Ozamiz City, even if no one denied that it was a criminal syndicate.
The military’s Southern Command believed Octavio Sr. would be helpful in counter-insurgency because he had become an enemy of the NPA, landing on the NPA’s hit list because of his activities.
The group, however, began to resort to kidnap-for-ransom, bank robberies, extortion and other illegal activities as insurgency-related incidents waned after the 1986 EDSA people power revolution.
Octavio Sr. allegedly used the group both for its official purpose as well as to conduct illegal activities. The family was also later linked to the Ozamiz crime gang.
In 1990, Octavio Sr. was killed after he reportedly resisted arrest for a case of illegal possession of explosives with destructive arson. He drew out a hand grenade, prompting the arresting officers to shoot him.
Reynaldo Sr. was said to have become titular head of the group, when his older brother Renato or “Nato,” then a provincial board member elected also in 2001, was killed in February 2002.
Renato was the official congressional candidate of the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino (LAMMP), then the party of former president Joseph Estrada in 1998, but he lost.
Renato was earlier arrested by authorities in Cainta, Rizal, on April 30, 1993 while Reynaldo Sr. and another brother, Ricardo or “Ardot” surrendered to then Brig. Gen. Dominador Salac, former intelligence chief.
Two years later, Reynaldo Sr., Renato and Ricardo were back in Ozamiz City, the charges of assault and bank robbery filed against them dismissed for lack of evidence.
While carrying out criminal activities in Metro Manila, the Parojinogs played “godfathers” and acted as “Robin Hoods” in their hometown in Ozamiz, giving out cash and dole-outs in their locality, according to various reports.
Because of their notoriety and popularity, the older family members eventually joined the political arena, where they won elective positions.
Based on reports, the Kuratong Baleleng Gang earned its notoriety in Metro Manila by conducting what was termed as “shock and awe” operations as one of their leaders, former Army man Wilson Soronda, would usually open fire in their assaults during robbery sprees.
Then Philippine National Police chief Recaredo Sarmiento created an Anti-Bank Robbery Task Force to pursue the Kuratong Baleleng leaders and members.
On May 18, 1995, 11 Kuratong Baleleng gang members were killed in a supposedly shootout with then Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) operatives in Quezon City. Witnesses later surfaced and claimed it was a rubout. Soronda was killed in a follow-up operation.
After the supposed shootout, the Kuratong Baleleng laid low.
Vigils
A month after Duterte’s disclosure, the entire Ozamiz City police force was ordered relieved after the Parojinogs learned in advance of the planned police raid at their residence in San Roque Lawis.
The family held vigils outside their respective homes, together with leaders from various barangay officials, local religious groups, and even local media, thus preempting the police operations.
In February, the mayor and his daughter posted bail at the Sandiganbayan for the graft case in connection with the alleged anomalous renovation of Ramiro Gymnasium in 2008 carried out by the Parojinog and Sons Construction, a company owned by the family.
The father and daughter posted P30,000 bail each before the Regional Trial Court could issue a warrant for their arrest. The project had a budget allocation of P2 million and was completed in 2010.
Before he was killed, a relative close to him, who requested anonymity, said Reynaldo Sr. had an anti-illegal drug policy, contrary to allegation that he was a drug lord.
The relative said in a telephone interview yesterday afternoon that Parojinog was an anti-drug crusader and that he had been cooperating with the Duterte administration in its fight against the drug trade in the country.
That’s why, she said, she was surprised that the mayor was killed. “We were shocked. We could not believe it.”
“I knew him (Reynaldo Sr.) and personally and I am certain that he was not what he was accused of,” the relative said.
She said Parojinog did not spare those he suspected to be involved in illegal drugs, including his kin.
“It doesn’t matter if you are his relative. If he found out you are using or selling shabu, you will get a mouthful from him,” she said, adding that Parojinog was so strict when it comes to illegal drug use and trade.
City Administrator Mike Ochate said the remains of the Parojinogs were brought to a mortuary in Ozamiz.
But the relative said the late mayor had been aware of the threat to his life.
“He knew that he would be killed. It’s no secret to him,” she said.
In previous interviews, Parojinog said he had launched his own anti-drug campaign in Ozamiz even before Duterte started his war on drugs last year. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe