Family of slain Daram mayor dismisses claims of NPA

By ELI C. DALUMPINES (PIA Samar)
January 30, 2007

CATBALOGAN, Samar  –  The family of the late Daram Mayor Benito Astorga, who was gunned down by two still unidentified suspects last Thursday in an island barangay of his municipality, dismissed claims of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) owning responsibility of the mayor’s killing. [insight]

In a press statement released Monday, Severa Astorga-Buquid, Astorga’s sister called the statement of the Arnulfo Ortiz Command of the NPA as “a mere fabrication designed by the political opponents of the late mayor to mislead the people” from knowing as to who the perpetrators really are.

Astorga-Buquid cited SSupt. Asdali Idja Abah’s earlier statement in an interview over a national television saying that the Arnulfo Ortiz Command does not operate in the said island municipality hence the statement may have been a fabrication.

In the same interview, Supt. Abah cited several inconsistencies in the statement like the killing of Municipal Comelec Officer Willy Gulane, which happened in 2002 and not in 2001 as the NPA claimed, implicating Mayor Astorga.

The police provincial chief informed that that was contrary to the testimony they got from one of the killers, who turned out to be a witness on the case, clearing the mayor of criminal liability.

The NPA’s claim that Mayor Astorga maintained some 180 CAFGUs was also false since there are only a little over 30 CAFGUs fielded in the area and these are under the supervision of the Army’s 52nd Infantry Battalion.

The late mayor’s family, however, expressed confidence that the police authorities will be able to solve the case and give justice to Astorga’s killing.

As of this writing, the police have already produced a cartographic sketch of the suspects based on the descriptions of witnesses who saw the incident.

The prevailing public perception here reflects that this may have been the start of a series of election-related violence in the province resulting from intense political rivalries.