RPA-ABB denies attack on MMDA executive's son, driver

The Revolutionary People’s Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) denied yesterday any involvement in the attack on a Metro Manila Development Authority official’s son and driver last Feb. 2.

In an official statement sent to media offices and posted on the RPA-ABB official website www.rpmo.org, spokesman Miguel Guevarra said that Partisano (Armadong Operatiba ng Partidong Marxista-Leninista ng Pilipinas-PMLP), which has claimed responsibility for the attack, should clear this up.

Guevarra said the PMLP is not part of the RPA-ABB but is a remnant of the former Metro Manila Rizal Party Organization.

Gunmen ambushed the Pajero of MMDA executive Roberto Esquivel in San Pedro, Laguna, killing his driver Johnny Agbay and seriously wounding Mico Esquivel, 14.

Police believe that the target was Esquivel himself because of his job as head of the MMDA’s Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group.

“Those alleged perpetrators named and charged are not and have never been members of the RPA-ABB. We clarify that Brandy Gerona, brother of one of the ‘suspects,’ was a member of the RPA-ABB for a short period,” Guevarra said. 

He said Gerona had been expelled from the RPA-ABB more than two years ago for violating the principles of the group by engaging in extortion, protection rackets, and being a gun for hire.

“While we are vehement in denying our role in the aforementioned incident...We believe that as long as social injustice continues and that the administration of justice itself is ailing, people will never cease in seeking alternative routes to obtain justice,” Guevarra said.  – Cecille Suerte Felipe