Some Bicol pols aiding rebs, claim intel execs

LEGAZPI CITY — Two intelligence officials here have accused some Bicol politicians and public figures of not only giving money and guns to the communist movement but even allowing captured rebels to escape while being brought to courts for hearings.

Jose Olaya Jr., Bicol director of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), and Col. Joel Cabides, commander of the 9th Orgulla Infantry Brigade based in Camarines Sur, hurled these serious accusations during a meeting of the Regional Peace and Order Council here last week.

Quoting intelligence reports, Olaya specifically mentioned the escapes of communist rebels while being escorted by jail guards to court hearings in Sorsogon.

Olaya said these incidents only showed that the jail guards escorting the rebels had "flings" with the New People’s Army (NPA). He did not elaborate.

He lamented that this was unfair to government troopers who had risked their lives capturing these guerrillas only to find them scot-free after months or even days after their arrest.

Olaya said some detained rebels just mysteriously disappeared from their cells. Investigations into these jailbreaks in Sorsogon and elsewhere in Bicol are underway.

He also accused some politicians of using inmates to harass voters during election time. "It’s a fact that some politicians are using inmates during elections to harass voters," he said.

Two years ago, the provincial jail warden of Masbate and five of his men were relieved from their posts when authorities found out that inmates under their custody were outside their cells during the 2001 local elections.

Some of these inmates were later found dead in separate places on the island-province.

For his part, Cabides accused some Bicol politicians of betraying the country by extending support "in cash" or "in kind" to the underground movement.

Cabides threatened to identify these politicians in court or in any proper forum.

"We are willing to reveal in court or in any forum the long list of these rebel-supporters," he told the Regional Peace and Order Council.

Cabides lamented that while the military has been fighting the communist rebels for nearly 34 years now, some public officials and politicians can still afford to support the enemies of the state.

"This war is not only the fight of the soldiers. This is our fight," he said.

The pronouncements of Olaya and Cabides prompted the regional council to form an investigating panel to look into the accusations.

This panel will be composed of representatives of the Department of Justice, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, Armed Forces and the local Catholic Church, headed by Mgsr. Cris Bernarte.