The Police Regional Office in Western Visayas (PRO-6) said that the facts were indicated categorically in the conduct of their investigation into the Himamaylan massacre amid the “baseless and malicious” accusations thrown against them.
PRO-6 acting director, Brigadier General Sidney Villaflor responded to the accusations of Butch Lozande, spokesperson of the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, where he claimed of the “perceived inability of the police to objectively investigate” into the killing of four family members at Barangay Buenavista’s Sitio Kangkiling in Negros Occidental’s Himamaylan City on June 14.
“His baseless accusations and hearsay statements during his interview clearly undermine the effort and the hard work of our police in Negros Occidental,” Villaflor said in a statement.
The regional police office called out Lozande for “the malicious imputation of alleged double standards in the delivery of justice.”
“[He] is very much mistaken in his perception of PRO-6,” the statement said.
“Ka Butch should know by now that the investigation has uncovered that NPA [New People’s Army] terrorists killed the four members of the Fausto family,” it added.
Around 15 armed individuals were suspected to have been involved in the massacre, a police investigation showed.
More than 50 bullet shells were recovered from the crime scene.
The couple — 52-year-old Rolly Fausto and 49-year-old Emilda — and their sons, 11-year-old Ben and 15-year-old Raben, succumbed to fatal gunshot wounds inside their residence on Wednesday night, June 14.
Rolly was believed to be the target in the killings as he facilitated the surrender of his relatives, who were NPA members.
The PRO-6 said the investigation into the family killings is based on facts and witnesses’ accounts and “readily threw the ball at the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP-NPA).”
“The facts indicate categorically that members of the NPA terrorist group committed the killings,” the PRO-6 said.
“[We] will utilize all its efforts and resources to bring the perpetrators to justice,” the statement added.
PRO-6 also said it was “the ploy of the CPP-NPA to discredit the government forces and create fear among peace advocates.”
“The people are now wide awake of the evils of communism — clothed in empty promises, ideology and principle that no longer breathe, but rather, only exist in the subconscious of those deceived disciples of communism,” the statement read.
Earlier, PRO-6 condemned the family massacre.
“Initial reports indicate the incident is part of the communist-terrorist group’s efforts to undermine the gains of the government’s programs to end the local communist armed conflict,” they said in a statement.
Shortly after the massacre, the NPA accused the Philippine Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB) of allegedly being involved in the killings.
The 303rd Infantry Brigade immediately lambasted the NPA, calling their allegations a “pathetic attempt by the insurgents to tarnish the Army’s reputation” and assured the public that government forces were committed to uncovering the truth behind the murder and in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has started conducting its own independent investigation over the massacre.
“We will conduct a background check on the family to determine what prompted them to move to Himamaylan. They had been staying in Himamaylan for less than a year, according to police information,” CHR-Negros Occidental head Vincent Parra said./With reports from PNA / WDJ