By Marisol Bo-oc | 11:59 AM February 26, 2024
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemned the killing of its five members, collectively known as “Bilar 5”, in Bilar town, Bohol on Friday, Feb. 23.
The “Bilar 5” were identified as Domingo Compoc, lawyer Hannah Jay Cesista, Parlito Historia, Marlon Omosura and Alberto Sancho who were killed in a gunfight with police and military forces in Sitio Matin-ao Dos in Barangay Campagao in Bilar on Feb. 23.
Lt. Norman Nuez, spokesman of the Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO), said that the government troops were supposed to serve warrants of arrest against Compoc and his cohorts in line with the Joint Enhanced Military Police Operation and Oplan “Hagorn,” BPPO’s counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism campaign plan.
The government team was met with gunfire as they were approaching the house.
But the CPP said that “Bilar 5” “were all captured alive and taken into custody”.
“The five were all captured alive and taken into custody yesterday morning by the fascist criminal troops of the 47th Infantry Battalion and Bohol police in Sitio Matin-ao 2, Barangay Campagao, Bilar, Bohol. They were subjected to severe torture and consequently murdered in cold blood,” said Marco Valbuena, CPP chief information officer, in a statement dated Feb. 24.
The statement said that there was “no truth to the lie being circulated by the police that the five were killed in an encounter.”
CPP added that local residents attest that no encounter took place on that day and people just witnessed the brutality of the military and police combat troops.
” A picture surreptitiously taken shows Compoc, with arms apparently bound behind his back, under custody of a soldier of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) after being accosted by the military and police. This image is presently circulating among the people of Bohol and on social media, ” the statement said.
READ: NUPL-Cebu condemns killing of ‘Bilar 5’
Compoc was unable to fight back against the government troops due to “ old age.”
” Compoc, who was in his 60s, suffering from arthritis and was in no position to fight. He was subjected to severe torture in front of a number of people in the village in the hope of striking fear among them. Based on facts initially gathered in the area, Ka Silong was hacked to death, suffering fatal wounds on his neck and abdomen, ” it said.
CPP said Cesista, who was later identified as a young lawyer from Cebu, was thrown to the ground by the soldiers and made to lie and crawl on the mud, before she was eventually shot to death.
CPP added that Cesista chose to serve the peasant masses and their revolutionary movement in Bohol.
“The willful killing of Compoc, Cesista, Historia, Omosura and Sancho after being captured and placed under the custody of the military and police consists of gross violations of international humanitarian law. The 47th IB and Bohol police, the leadership of the AFP and PNP, and Marcos himself, are liable for war crimes and must be prosecuted and punished for their nefarious deeds, ” CPP said.
CPP said an autopsy by an independent pathologist on the remains of the five rebels would “surely add more details to the initial facts bravely put forward by the community and help unravel completely the gruesome crime committed by the military and police.”
The communist party said that it paid the highest tribute to Compoc, Cesista, Historia, Omosura and Sancho.
“They are heroes of the Filipino people who gave up all comforts to serve the downtrodden and oppressed masses. Their contributions to the Filipino people’s cause will never be forgotten,” CPP said.
