The remains of the purported member of the New People’s Army (NPA) are given proper burial by authorities, a press release from the 47th Infantry Battalion (IB) said.
This information was relayed via email to The Bohol Tribune by the civil military operations officer of the 47th IB, 1Lt. Elma Grace Remonde on Friday, July 17, 2020.
The remains of a certain Ka Willy was exhumed on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 from a shallow grave located in barangay Rizal in Batuan town.
The exhumed cadaver of the NPA rebel was given a proper burial in the municipal cemetery in Batuan, on Thursday, July 16, 2020, Remonde said in a statement.
The burial was made possible with the assistance of the local government unit (LGU) of Batuan headed by Mayor Antonino Jumawid.
The authorities were able to locate the shallow grave via the information given by a captured NPA rebel Crisologo Guimaras, earlier reports received by The Bohol Tribune say.
The cadaver was initially buried in the shallow grave for almost a year before it was exhumed on Wednesday by authorities including members of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO), reports say.
According to Remonde, the late NPA rebel hailed from Negros Island and had been living in Bohol for almost 10 years, and had become a regular member of the NPA.
According to Guimaras, Ka Willy stayed in the hinterlands of Bohol as vice squad leader of Squad 3, Bohol Party Committee allegedly under the command of Domingo “Cobra” Compoc.
In the statement, Remonde said that Ka Willie reportedly asked Compoc for a leave so the former can see his family in Negros Island. The Army officer said Compoc turned down Ka Willie’s request for a leave.
Eventually, out of frustration, Ka Willie allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself. Ka Willie’s remains were buried in the hinterland of Batuan on August 2019.
It was further revealed by the Army officer that Ka Willie’s next of kin was not informed about what happened to the late NPA rebel.
Meanwhile, 47th IB commanding officer Lt. Col. Allan Tabudlo commented,” What is sad about what happened is that the life he had lived in the Communist Group would have been better, he would have had more time to be with his loved ones than to hide in the mountains where he is not from here.”
“Let us not be tricked by the communists armed groups, setting out promises that are wasting the life of the Filipinos. They are pursuing on broadening lies to attract more recruits to join the CPP-NPA-NDF movements and eventually another life wasted for nothing”, he further commented.