Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde expressed hopes yesterday that the four militant leaders who are being hunted for murder charges will not resist arrest for their own safety.
Albayalde also welcomed the R1-million reward put up by private group Citizen’s Crime Watch (CCW) to hasten the judicial process in murder charges against National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Secretary Liza Maza, former Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, and former Bayan Muna Partylist representatives Satur Ocampo and Teddy Casino.
“Huwag naman sana mangyari ‘yung sinasabi na lumaban although wala naman silang history na ganyan. Hopefully, they just give themselves up,” Albayalde said.
“The reward of R1 million for information leading to the arrest of Satur Ocampo, Rafael Mariano, Liza Maza, and Teodoro Casiño should encourage would-be informants to provide relevant information on the whereabouts of these wanted persons. Although the reward offer is not officially part of the government reward program, I must clarify that this is not a dead or alive bounty but monetary compensation for information provided,” he added.
Bayan Muna Party-list Representative Carlos Zarate earlier slammed the reward and said it was a “cheap political stunt and vendetta” while Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes said it was a “lame publicity stunt.”
Albayalde, for his part, said they are only doing their jobs in effecting the arrest of the four wanted leaders since the court already issued a warrant.
The four activist leaders were ordered arrested due to their alleged involvement in the killings of supposed Bayan Muna supporters who cut ties and pledged allegiance to its rival group, Akbayan, several years ago.
The murder cases were filed by the kin of the victims in 2006. (Martin A. Sadongdong)
