NPA denies any role in Abra mayor’s ambush-slay

BAGUIO CITY — The New People’s Army (NPA) command operating in the Ilocos and Cordillera regions denied any involvement in the Dec. 27 ambush-slaying of Tubo, Abra mayor Jose Segundo.

In a statement, Martin Montana, self-confessed spokesman of the NPA-Cordillera’s Chadli Molintas Command, said they were not responsible for Segundo’s killing, claiming that rebel units operating in the Cordillera, which covers Abra, "adhered to the unilateral ceasefire declared by the National Democratic Front."

Army Maj. Elmer Quiros, the Armed Forces’ civil relations service chief for the Ilocos and Cordillera regions, confirmed that there were no reported violations of the December truce from both the NPA and the military in both regions.

Montana said Segundo’s "most probable killers" were his "political and personal enemies."

Segundo died in a Ilocos Sur hospital from an M-16 bullet in the leg that ricocheted up to his head. He was waylaid while he was on his way to attend a wedding ceremony in remote Barangay Tubtuba in Tubo town.

Segundo was buried in a private memorial park here last Monday.

Montana, however, said the NPA regretted not being the one which meted out "revolutionary law and justice" to the mayor.

Segundo was said to have been in the NPA "hit list" for years because of his alleged anti-people activities that included supporting an anti-communist group, and his alleged penchant for young women.