Cops clueless on killing of Bayan Muna’s Isabela head

ILAGAN, Isabela — Police admitted yesterday having no leads so far in the gunslaying of the provincial secretary-general of the militant Bayan Muna by motorcycle-riding men in Echague town Thursday morning.

The Bayan Muna leader, Almabella "Madonna" Castillo, 27, suffered the same fate that befell her predecessor, Elena Mendiola who, together with her husband, was gunned down last May.

The Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), however, claimed in a statement that Castillo was among a number of militants being targeted by a military-backed death squad operating in the fourth district of Isabela and in the provinces of Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya.

Castillo died a few hours after she was attacked at a junction of the national highway in Barangay San Fabian, Echague town at about 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

She was with her daughter and the latter’s classmate in front of a cellphone shop near the Isabela State University when the two men on board a motorcycle approached them.

One of the two men alighted and then fired at Castillo, hitting her in the legs and abdomen, police said.

Castillo was rushed to the privately owned Manango Hospital in nearby Alicia town but was later transferred to the Governor Faustino Dy Sr. Memorial Hospital upon the advice of Gov. Grace Padaca.

Padaca described those behind Castillo’s killing as "cowards (who) could not even fight her fair and square."

Castillo, who hailed from Nueva Ecija, was one of the founders of the Samahan ng mga Nagkakaisang Magsasaka ng Echague, a local affiliate of the Danggayan Dagiti Mannalon iti Isabela, a provincial alliance of farmers’ groups. She also served as local spokeswoman of Anakpawis, a party-list group, in 2005.

Last year, she reportedly decided to take a respite from her usual activities and looked for a job to support her two children and two nieces living with her.

With the help of Isabela Reps. Edwin Uy (second district) and Anthony Miranda (fourth district), she was also able to support her own schooling at the Isabela State University.

Meanwhile, Salvador del Pueblo, Cagayan Valley spokesman of the National Democratic Front, said Castillo’s killing validated the findings of the NPA’s Benito Tesorio Command that a military-backed death squad was responsible for the earlier murders of Mendiola and her husband, Ricardo Balauag, also in Echague town.

Del Pueblo echoed an earlier claim by Delio Baladon, spokesman of the Benito Tesorio Command.

The CPP-NPA alleged that some military officials had a hand in preparing the hit list and ordered the actual killings.

It further alleged that the death squad is composed of military intelligence agents and men of the Army’s 54th Infantry Battalion based in Echague.

However, local military officials disclaimed any knowledge of such a death squad, saying the communist rebels were out to "smear the good name of the military."