The New People’s Army Leonardo Panaligan Command invoked “self-defense” in the shooting to death of a former barangay kagawad and his son Feb. 16 in Brgy. Malangsa, Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental.
In a statement, rebel spokesman Ka JB Regalado, tagged the two victims, former kagawad Lucio Perater, 60, and his son, Antonio, 35, as military “assets”.
Regalado alleged that the two were killed after trading gunfire with the NPA Red fighters. He added that they recovered a shotgun, a .45 caliber pistol, and 357 and 38 caliber revolvers when the NPA raided the house of the Peraters.
Vallehermoso Mayor Marianne Gustilo, chairperson of the Municipal Task Force-ELCAC (Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict), and the 62nd Infantry Battalion strongly condemned the killing of the Peraters. Lucio was the husband of incumbent Malangsa barangay chairwoman Beatriz Perater.
Regalado said that Brgy. Capt. Perater was warned in 2020 to discontinue her involvement with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the NTF-ELCAC.
The NPA Mt. Casermon Command earlier owned up the ambush of policemen and the killing of a civilian they accused as a military informant, all in Bgy. Bi-ao, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, last week. — GB
