The Usual Suspect

The Usual Suspect and the Real Culprit

Currently hugging the headlines is the killing of an Italian missionary priest, Fr. Fausto Tentorio who was known for his community development programs for the Lumad of Arakan, North Cotabato since 1978. The CPP-NPA-NDF was quick to exploit this issue by pointing their fingers to the military for the dastardly act. Their allegations are based on the late missionary’s stand against military operations in the indigenous communities and the alleged surveillance on his house by armed men in uniform days prior to his killing. Wasn’t the NPA in military uniforms when they attack a military detachment in Compostela Valley years ago? And since the communist movement have already infiltrated the media, print and broadcast alike, it is now convenient for them to have their baseless accusations published by their media allies. It is here where the CPP-NPA-NDF’s “web of deception” comes into play. 

There have been numerous occasions that our soldiers were falsely accused of extra-judicial killings but only to be vindicated later after the NPA or some other armed groups were identified as the real perpetrators. Case in point is the killing of Evelyn Pitao, the sister of NPA leader Leoncio PITAO aka Comdr PARAGO, who was murdered in Davao del Norte. The communist movement immediately took advantage of the issue and made baseless pronouncements in the media that the military was responsible for the killing, only to be refuted by the real culprits, their red fighters under the NPA’s Merardo Arce Command in Davao Region who claimed responsibility for the killing. We must not also forget that the NPA was responsible for the summary executions of hundreds of innocent civilians accused of cooperating with the military in many parts of the country. Proof to that are the mass graves that have been discovered throughout the years.

The senseless killing of Fr Tentorio came at a time when the CPP-NPA-NDF’s mass support is at all time low. They badly needed a “story” to cover up their latest atrocities and regain the declining mass support by influencing the public’s perception on their favor. And it came at a high price of killing an innocent and pro-poor missionary. But they would care less, as long as “the end justifies the means”. Again, for an ideology who doesn’t believe in the existence of God, the missionary’s death serves the communist movement a good purpose, that is, as propaganda material against the military and the government in general. But the Filipino people can no longer be fooled; the military may come out as the usual suspect but at the end of the day, the public will know that the NPA is the real culprit.

-Malayang Filipino

(photo credits to examiner.com & fvdb.wordpress.com)