BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines — A consultant of the National Democratic Front (NDF) was gunned down at a bus terminal in Aritao town at around 2:30 a.m. yesterday.
Randy Felix Malayao, 49, was sleeping in a Victory Liner bus bound for Tuguegarao, Cagayan during a stopover in Barangay Darapidap when the gunman, who was wearing a hooded jacket and ski mask, boarded the bus, Chief Inspector Geovanni Cejes, Aritao police chief, said.
Malayao, a resident of Barangay Minanga Norte in San Pablo, Isabela, died at the scene.
Witnesses said Malayao was awakened when the gunman arrived and even pleaded for his life.
The assailant escaped on a motorcycle driven by his cohort.
“Most of the passengers went out of the bus to freshen up and have coffee,” Senior Superintendent Jeremias Aglugub said.
Malayao was reportedly seated adjacent to another male passenger, who was reported missing after the incident.
The victim represented the NDF in various peace fora as consultant from Cagayan Valley. He was also designated as one of the spokespersons of the NDF panel in peace negotiations held in Europe.
Chief Superintendent Jose Mario Espino, Cagayan Valley police director, ordered the creation of a task force to investigate the killing of Malayao.
Espino said Malayao’s background as a former New People’s Army commander could be among the possible motives for the murder.
Malayao was implicated in the murder of Cagayan Gov.Rodolfo Aguinaldo in 2008 and eight soldiers in San Mariano, Isabela in 2005, but was acquitted of the charges.
A former student activist and campus journalist, he was imprisoned in 2008 and released in 2012.
Salvador del Pueblo, NDF-Cagayan Valley spokesman, blamed the “death squad” of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division for the killing.
Del Pueblo said Malayao was covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees that stipulates that NDF consultants should not be harmed or arrested.
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said the killing of Malayao was “a case of extrajudicial killing done by suspected state forces gone berserk.”
Bayan noted that the incident occurred after President Duterte terminated the peace talks with communist rebels.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said it would conduct a parallel probe into the incident.
“His death comes at a time when voices of opposition and human rights groups are tagged as enemies, making them plausible subjects of assaults,” Jacqueline de Guia, CHR spokesperson, said. – With Emmanuel Tupas, Raymund Catindig, Artemio Dumlao, Rainier Allan Ronda