CPP Claims Kintanar Execution; Denies ‘Hit List’

BY BULATLAT.COM

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) confirmed on Jan. 26 Sunday that it was a special unit of the New People’s Army (NPA) that killed renegade CPP leader Romulo Kintanar last Jan. 23 while having lunch at a Quezon City restaurant.

But its spokesman, Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal, also dismissed as a “monstrous lie” the claim by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her military and police officials that the NPA has a “hit list” of top government officials including former Malacañang spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao.

Four men armed with 9-mm pistols shot Kintanar as he and his companions were preparing to leave their table. He was declared dead upon arrival at the nearby East Avenue Medical Center.

Kintanar was the former head of the CPP’s Military Commission before his arrest in 1988 and head of the CPP Mindanao Commission in the early ‘80s. He was expelled together with Ricardo Reyes and Filemon Lagman in 1992 for factionalism and alleged crimes. Kintanar was believed to be the architect of the NPA’s urban guerilla warfare, using Davao City as the "laboratory" for the NPA Sparrows, an urban hit squad that preyed on police and military personnel.

The CPP declared that it was correct to punish Kintanar because of his many crimes against the movement, including plotting with the government Armed Forces to kill suspected CPP chairman Jose Ma. Sison in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Kintanar was allegedly project officer of a hit squad sent to Utrecht in May 2000 but failed to carry out the assassination.

The CPP also said that Philip Medel, the suspected killer of actress Nida Blanca, was one of the killers-for-hire under the wing of Kintanar and his uncle, former intelligence chief Gen. Galileo Kintanar.

Crimes

In a five-page statement sent to media, CPP spokesman Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal explained that the NPA metes the death penalty “only on those found guilty beyond reasonable doubt” of having committed heinous crimes. He said that a “people’s court” tried Kintanar in 1993 and declared him guilty of several crimes.

Rosal cited the following “crimes” by Kintanar:

•         Masterminding, launching and propagating gangster operations, including kidnap-for-ransom, bank holdups, and dollar-counterfeiting operations while still in the CPP. He cited as examples the kidnapping of Japanese businessman Noboyuki Wakaoji in 1986 and Bombo Radyo-Philippines owner Roger Florete in 1989 where Kinatanar and his men allegedly earned $10 million and P15 million in ransom, respectively.

•          Stealing massive amounts of funds from the Party.

•          Instigating factionalism and attempts to destroy the revolutionary movement.

Since his expulsion from the Party, Kintanar reportedly “went full throttle with his criminal and counter-revolutionary activities.” Rosal charged that Kintanar, using his internal knowledge of the revolutionary movement, assisted the government's "counter-insurgency" operations. He said that Kintanar’s “real job” was to serve as consultant to the AFP and PNP.

Rosal clarified that Kintanar's gangsterism violated CPP policies and rules and was perpetrated without the CPP leadership's knowledge and consent.

“Monstrous lie”

Rosal however clarified that Kintanar was meted punishment solely for his criminal and counter-revolutionary acts and not for his ideological and organizational differences with the CPP leadership or for leaving the Party. He said that resigning or simply espousing an erroneous line is not a crime punishable by death under revolutionary justice.

“Anyone who does not agree with the movement or who could no longer carry on the tasks or bear the sacrifices attendant to waging revolution is free to leave,” explained Rosal. Membership in both the CPP and NPA is voluntary.

“In this regard, Malacañang's claim that there is an NPA hit list that includes Presidential chief of staff Rigoberto Tiglao is a monstrous lie,” said Rosal.

It is generally believed that only those found to be incorrigible and have blood debt against the revolutionary movement and its organized masses are punished by the NPA after court trial.

Earlier, President Macapagal-Arroyo denounced Kintanar's killing. "The government will not allow the murder and intimidation of former rebels who have come back to the fold," she said. She also revealed that Tiglao is in the list of NPA targets which consist of former CPP leaders and members.

Tiglao once headed the CPP’s Manila-Rizal regional committee until his capture after martial law was declared in 1972. 

The CPP-NPA has been waging an armed struggle in the Philippines for 34 years. According to Rosal, it has 128 guerrillas zones, covering 60% of the barangays (villages) in the country. Bulatlat.com

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