No let-up in hunt for mayor’s killers

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Pursuit operations against the communist rebels who killed the mayor of Impasug-ong, Bukidnon last Wednesday are going on without let-up, the military said.       

Maj. Christian Uy, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said government troops are backed up by two military helicopters in scouring the forested area of Bukidnon where the New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas behind the killing of Mayor Mario Okinlay are believed to be hiding.

Uy confirmed an earlier police statement that Okinlay had received death threats from the NPA.

Okinlay was driving his big bike as he led a convoy of municipal employees and Army and police escorts from an outreach mission in remote Barangay Bontongan when the attack took place.

“He was the main target and since he was leading the convoy, he was an easy target of the three rebel ambushers strategically positioned on the roadside,” said Maj. Gen. Ricardo Visaya, commander of the Cagayan de Oro City-based 4th ID.

Okinlay was hit in the abdomen and back, and died three hours after the ambush while being treated at the Polymedic Hospital in Malaybalay City.

Citing field reports, Visaya said residents of Impasug-ong, a first-class municipality, are staging an indignation rally tomorrow.

“The people of Impasug-ong are now organizing themselves to denounce the killing on Monday of their beloved mayor,” he said.

Uy said the NPA killed Okinlay for bringing government service to Bontongan village, eroding the NPA’s influence in the area.

Members of the NPA’s Front 89 are believed to be behind the ambush.   – With Jaime Laude