MANY have been said and done in the aftermath of the murder of FEU and former national football team player Kieth Absalon and his cousin Nolven but one thing is certain: the killing of the two have sparked a massive outrage against the New People’s Army and the Communist Party of the Philippines and appears to have united Filipinos in calling for a final end to the decades-old insurgency in the country.

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General Gilor Eleazar is leading the PNP’s charge against the killers of the two Absalons and this week lashed out at the CPP/NPA for claiming remorse over the death of the two in an improvised explosive device or IED and attack in Masbate City the other Sunday.

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The top cop at the same time challenged the CPP/NPA which has been described by the PNP and the Armed Forces as ‘Communist Terrorists Group’ or CTGs to cease their attacks and atrocities and show that they truly regret the deaths of innocent people they were responsible for.

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I agree with our top cop when he said that the public will only feel the sincerity of the CPP/NPA in offering their apologies to the Absalons if they will surrender the rebels responsible for the twin murder case. However, I really believe that it would be next to impossible and would just fall on deaf ears.

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What the PNP and the AFP needs to do right now is to ensure that a solid case, with the help of all witnesses and recovered pieces of evidence, will be filed against the identified perpetrators and let the wheels of justice roll and ultimately launch a massive hunt against the suspects once the court issues a warrant for their arrest. As soon as the warrants are out, our troops should not give the suspects the opportunity to have a good sleep.

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To date, this is what the Bicol police headed by Brigadier Gen. Jonnel Estomo, the PNP Intelligence Group headed by Brig. Gen. Warren de Leon and the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group under Major Gen. Bert Ferro have unearthed since they started investigating the incident which took place along the provincial road in Purok 4, Barangay Anas in Masbate City around 6:45 a.m. last June 6.

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May I also remind the public that this is not the first time that innocent civilians, apart from members of the PNP and the AFP. have been killed in reported NPA attacks thru the years. However, the death of a future Philippine football superstar obviously caught the national attention.

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Killed in the June 6 attack were the 21-year old Kieth and his cousin Nolven, an employee of the Masbate Electric Cooperative. Also wounded was Nolven’s 16-year old son. All three are residents of Bgy. Nursery in Masbate City.

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The teenager who survived the attack said that the two fatalities and four other relatives were biking that time. He said he was about seven meters away from Kieth and approximately 19 meters away from his father when the IED exploded.

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The survivor said that another 13-year old male cousin was around 10 meters behind him while their three other relatives were about two kilometers away from them. The two teenagers said that shortly after the explosion, they heard automatic gunfire prompting them to flee for safety.

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The two said that they managed to get inside the front yard of a nearby house where they hid. While in hiding, the two teenagers said they saw around a dozen men wearing green, black and red shits with black tactical pants and all carrying long firearms approaching the bodies of the two victims.

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A SOCO report showed that when found, Kieth was lying face up with a gunshot wound in the head, two misfired cartridges and a spent casing near his head. The body of Nolven was also found lying face down with a bullet wound in the head. The SOCO said both were shot at close-range.

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Bomb experts from the Masbate police said there were two seats of explosion. The first IED was tied in a three some two meters away from the edge of the concrete pavement while the 2nd was laid on the ground. Both IEDs were separated by nearly a 12-meter distance.

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What is revolting here is that our football player was found to have been shot in the right eye and suffered injuries in his left chin, both thighs, left leg, right Achilles tendon and right arm. He died due to hemorrhagic shock secondary to gunshot wound and blast injuries. God bless the soul of a strong young man who has been a pride of his school, a pride of our Nation.

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Nolven was shot in his right shoulder and had wounds on his left shoulder, ribs, left part of the head with his brain tissue exposed and right and left legs. His death was also caused by hemorrhagic shock secondary to gunshot wound and blast injuries. God bless this father who had nothing but good plans and wishes for his family until the NPA killed him.

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Two other witnesses, both riding a motorcycle that time also testified that they saw the gunmen shooting the already wounded victims at close range. The witnesses positively identified one of the armed men as Arnold Rosero alias ‘Ka Star’ whom the PNP and the AFP said is a known NPA commander in Masbate City and the municipalities of Balud, Mandaon and Aroroy municipalities.

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As of this writing, I learned that the Masbate City Police Station is set to file criminal charges for double murder and frustrated murder and violation of Republic Act 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 against the suspects. I just hope and pray that the real perpetrators of the crime would be charged in court.

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Gen. Eleazar said he is hell-bent in giving justice to the Absalons even after the NPA took full responsibility for the twin killing. He also angrily said that if the NPA were sincere in their apology, they should surrender the perpetrators of the unfortunate incident.

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“Hustisya ang hinihiling ng pamilya ng mga biktima at hindi lang public apology. Kung talagang seryoso ang CPP-NPA sa kanilang panlulumo, isuko nila sa amin ang mga nagplano’t gumawa ng pag-atake na ito. These senseless attacks must end,” the top cop said.

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He also called on the NPA to put a stop to their senseless attacks on civilian targets. “Sa mga NPA, wakasan ninyo na ang paghahasik ng karahasan na pawang mga inosenteng sibilyan lang ang higit na apektado. Sobrang daming inosenteng buhay na ang nasayang at nawala dahil sa inyong walang saysay na armadong pakikipaglaban,” he said.

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Gen. Eleazar hit the nail right on the head when he pointed out that the bereaved family of the victims are crying for justice which can only be attained if the perpetrators are behind bars and facing the consequences of their criminal actions.

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“Kagaya ng ginagawa natin sa PNP, ang ating paghingi ng paumanhin sa pagkakasala ng sinumang kasamahan namin sa taumbayan ay may kasamang aksyon upang sila ay maparusahan nang naayon sa ating mga batas,” he explained.

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Security forces as of press time are still tracking down the leftist gunmen responsible for the incident. Since the highly-condemnable incident in Masbate City on Sunday, troops have shot dead three NPA rebels not very far away from the area where the Absalons were killed. Troops have also recovered over a dozen automatic rifles, IEDs and dozens of live ammunition abandoned by the fleeing gunmen a few distance away from where they killed the Absalons, said Estomo.