Former rebel accuses Garcia-Yulo of NPA links

By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Amid accusations by a former New People’s Army (NPA) rebel claiming Moises Padilla Vice Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo is linked with the rebel group and previously ordered killings in the town, the Moises Padilla municipal police have filed murder charges against the detained town official.

Based on documents provided by police, the charges were filed last week before the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Bacolod City.

Also included in the charges were Adrian Villaflor and Moreto Flores, both of whom are residents of Barangay Quintin Remo in the said town.

In the complaint affidavit filed by former NPA rebel Jully Opiar, he claimed Garcia-Yulo ordered the killing of Magdaleno Grande in January 2016 after reportedly receiving word he had informed Moises Padilla Mayor Magdaleno Peña about her security aides being involved with illegal drugs, which eventually resulted in their termination from service.

He also claimed the vice mayor was a member of the NPA’s “Kangaroo Court” and used the rebels as her “muscle and personal goons” in order to add the names to the NPA’s “hitlist.”

Opiar said the order to liquidate Grande was carried out by the NPA Special Partisan Unit on May 1, 2016 at Sitio Coyaoyao in the town’s Barangay Inolingan.

Local media also asked the former NPA rebel of his activities within the group and he claimed to have served as chairman for the local Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, a supposed legal front for the communist movement.

He also allegedly engaged in extortion activities.

In addition, Garcia-Yulo’s former bodyguard Robert Sualog also submitted his own affidavit backing Opiar’s claims, claiming, over the past four years working for the vice mayor, he has received a considerable amount of information regarding her alleged activities such as contributing supplies, weapons, and cash to the rebels.

He also claimed to have heard the vice mayor giving the order to kill Grande./DGB, WDJ