BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Murder charges are being readied for filing against several suspected New People’s Army (NPA) members who killed PFC John Ilisan, of the 47th Infantry Battalion, in sitio Camboguiot of Brgy. Camindangan in Sipalay City last week.
Colonel Oscar Lactao, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, told The Freeman his men have finished 60 to 70 percent of the investigation, and they should be ready to file the charges this week against the rebels and their coddlers.
Lactao said three NPA members shot Ilisan in the head, three others served as lookouts and three to five civilians coddled the killers by giving them vital information, providing getaway motorcycles and sheltering them after the crime.
Lactao said the Army had summoned the civilians to allow them to clear themselves, but if the civilians fail to justify themselves, they will be included in the filing of cases. He said the gravity of their participation to the crime will determine whether they will be tagged as principal, accomplice, or accessory to the crime.
Ilisan, who is from Dingle, Iloilo and a member of the Peace and Development Team (PDT), was with a fellow soldier to buy food stuff early on a market day in Camboguiot for the PDT’s consumption, when he was shot by the NPA hitmen. He died on the spot, said Capt. Leo Christopher Cunanan, spokesperson of the 303rd Ibde.
Ilisan was helping the farmers of barangays Camindangan and Manlucahoc on their land ownership and tenurial concerns by serving as a conduit between the farmers and the right government agencies.
Lactao said they are condemning the killing of Ilisan as he was unarmed, not on combative mode, and was just doing peace development works.
Ilisan had left a two-year-old son, and a grieving young widow who is four months pregnant, said Lactao. “I hope the people in Negros will see how our soldiers risk their own lives to maintain peace in this province,” he said.