Rebels kill bodyguard in mayoralty bet’s presence
Suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) shot dead a mayoralty bet’s close-in bodyguard Wednesday afternoon at the mountainous village of Igcalaga, some 12 kilometers from the town proper of Calinog, Iloilo.
Lenie Leysa, 52, of Brgy. Dungon-B, Jaro, Iloilo City, was peppered with bullets in front of mayoralty candidate Salvador “Badong” Divinagracia, Jr.
Reports said that Divinagracia’s group just came from a caucus when the incident happened.
On board a Nissan Terrano, the group was traversing Igcalaga to Calinog town proper when they were flagged down by eight armed men.
Aside from Leysa, Divinagracia was with Felipe Braña, driver Brgy. Captain Jimmy Quimba, and his two police escorts – SPO1 Avelino Chiva and PO3 Jesus Castillon.
Divinagracia claimed that they were told to alight the vehicle.
They were then ordered to lie facedown at the banana plantation beside the road.
The suspects also took the cops’ firearms – two Beretta pistols, an M-14 and M-16 armalite rifles.
“Ginpa-identify nila si Lenie kag ginpa-separate sa grupo,” Divinagracia narrated.
The mayoralty bet claimed that he even tried to negotiate with the suspect.
He tried asking the rebels what was the reason why they picked out Leysa considering that the latter offered no resistance.
“It was very inhumane. I even told them that it was not a good action and propaganda on their part,” he claimed.
But the suspects were deaf on Divinagracia’s appeal.
They aimed their guns on the victim and peppered him with bullets.
After the incident, the suspect left the area bringing their looted firearms and fled towards the nearby Brgy. Wright, Tapaz, Capiz province.
Reports said that one of the suspects even claimed to like Divinagracia’s mobile phone. But the mayor-wannabe claimed that he has yet to pay fully for the phone.
In the end the suspects took out the SIM card of the phone and the vehicle’s key.
Planned
Immediately after, members of the 47th Infantry Battalion based in Brgy. Libot, Calinog responded at the crime scene.
According to 1Lt. Rey Balibagoso, the killing was planned.
“The caucus was scheduled. We believed that they have been here the night before as evidenced by a clearing in the area and the presence of a banana leaf where they had their meals,” he added.
Joint Army and police personnel also conducted hot pursuit operations against the eight suspects.
Non-payment of PTC
For Divinagracia, the main reason for such act was his failure to pay the NPA’s extortion demand.
He claimed that the NPA in the area allegedly asked him for a permit-to-campaign (PTC) fee.
“Wala man ko kwarta nga inugbayad para sa PTC. Ang hambal ko gani, ang ubra sang mayor para sa tawo and if that is also their priority, then we should be one on that note. But I don’t really know what triggered them to do such act kay pirme man gani kami ga-istoryahanay kung ang kawsa para sa pumuluyo,” Divinagracia stated.
During a recent talk with the rebel group, he added that it also came as an issue that he did not resign from the military service.
“But of course, that’s not true because the moment I filed my candidacy, I was deemed resigned from the service,” said Divinagracia, who retired as AFP’s lieutenant colonel.
Despite what happened, the mayoralty bet is still not keen on paying PTC fee.
“I just feel that if I did no wrong, I have nothing to fear,” he added.
Divinagracia, meanwhile, refused to comment if the incident is politically-motivated claiming that he has no evidence to support such claim.
It must be noted that last 2007, initial results had it that Divinagracia won by a slim margin over outgoing Mayor Alex Centena in the vice mayoralty race.
Teodoro Lao won the mayoralty race but died of stomach cancer in March 18, 2008.
Divinagracia became mayor but was dislodged after Centena won in his electoral protest.
Other angles
But aside from politics, police investigators are looking into the possibility that Leysa was killed because of his other “offenses.”
“He apparently earned the ire of the rebels because of his previous records,” Calinog Police Station chief Insp. Aron Palomo said adding that the victim has previous cases of robbery.
He was reportedly tagged in a kidnap-for-ransom operation and was alleged to be a gun-for-hire.
But Divinagracia claimed that all these allegations remained to be proven.
He added that there was also no standing arrest warrant against the victim.
Meanwhile, Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division public information officer 1Lt. Mark Andrew Posadas said that the claim that Leysa was an alleged ex-NPA member is purely an allegation by the NPA to justify the killing of an innocent civilian.
“It is also not true that the area is NPA-infested since we are only talking of a group of eight men. However, they are active in that area, as well as in Tapaz, Capiz,” he added.
Posadas also maintained that the refusal to pay PTC is the primary reason for the incident.
“In the NPA’s frustration of not being able to collect in areas where they are perceived to have an influence has moved them to perform acts like murdering Lenie Leysa to intimidate other candidates in paying. We applaud Mr. Divinagracia’s courage in continuing to defy the NPA’s extortion attempts and we continue to call on our candidates not to be intimidated and to condemn the NPA’s employment of the PTC scheme,” he said.
