New People’s Army
Southern Mindanao
Regional Command
Press Statement
October 25, 2015
Revolutionary
justice prevailed when the Southern Mindanao Regional Operations
Command of the New People’s Army, acting on the decision of the people’s
court, authorized the imposition of standing order and punished
warlords GPH mayor Dario Otaza and Daryl Otaza to give justice to the
thousands of indigenous peoples and peasants terrorized by their
despotic tyranny in Loreto and surrounding municipalities of Agusan del
Sur.
The
NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Command commends the revolutionary
fighters and officers of the Comval North Davao South Agusan Subregional
Command who, in joint operations with the NPA-Northern Mindanao
Regional Operations Command, meted the maximum sentence of death penalty
against Loreto Mayor and Bagani paramilitary leaders Dario Otaza and
his son, Daryl, on October 19, 2015 in Butuan City.
NPA
operatives posing as NBI elements raided the Otaza residence in Brgy.
Baan, Butuan City, subdued Otaza’s security details and confiscated 4
bushmaster rifles, 2 .45 cal. pistols and 2 9mm pistols. The NPA
operatives found in Otaza’s possession of some PHP 25,000.00 which had
been secured and shall be returned to the family through a third party
in the soonest possible time.
The
people’s court found Dario Otaza guilty of masterminding and ordering
the execution of the following heinous crimes against the people and the
revolutionary movement:
1.
Brutal murder and torture of the Lumad and ordinary civilians, namely,
Benjie Planos of Brgy. Kauswagan, killed September 13, 2013; Gabriel
Alindao of Brgy, Kauswagan killed October 10, 2013 and Gerry Villamor of
Datu Ampunan, killed September 10, 2014, all in Loreto, Agusan Del Sur.
2.
Multiple frustrated murder and robbery of some families residing in Km
16, Brgy. Datu Davao, Loreto on September 9, 2014 perpetrated by
Bukakang Banggaan and certain Augit and Intoy who are members of the
Otaza-created Taptap paramilitary group. (The names of the victims have
been withheld for their protection.)
3.
Arson and destruction of the homes of the farmers in Brgy. Kauswagan by
Otaza’s paramilitary men Mariel Dioganon, Aki Dioganon, Jordan
Dioganon, Abdon Dioganon, Abdon Dioganon, Abdon Sinkok, Peping Maamib
and Loloy Cedilla in 2013. (The names of the victims have been withheld
for their protection.)
4.
Intense military operations jointly conducted by Otaza’s Bagani forces
and 26th IB under Oplan Bayanihan which resulted to gruesome right
abuses against Lumad population:
a.
Torture of four minors, two of whom have also been subjected to illegal
arrest and illegal detention, all from Brgy. San Isidro, Loreto.
b. Hamletting and imposition of food and economic blockade in five villages in Brgy. Kauswagan, Loreto
c.
Forced evacuation, which also translated to the economic dislocation of
at least 459 indigenous Manobo individuals from Brgy. Kauswagan and
other villages of Loreto. Many from among the evacuees have not
reclaimed their land to this day as their villages continue to be
Otaza’s Bagani war zone.
d.
Divestment and destruction of not less than 100 hectares of
agricultural land and upland farms which had been rehabilitated and
tilled by the evacuees after typhoon Pablo;
e.
Attacks against and closure of two community based learning centers
which constituted violations of the rights of children to development
and education.
Otaza’s
Bagani Force and the 26th IB continue their atrocities through forcible
arrest, fake surrenders, arbitrary detention, psychological warfare,
threat, harassment, threat against the families of NPAs, even after
entering an agreement brokered by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte with
the evacuees that no retaliatory attacks will be waged against them upon
their return from evacuation.
5.
On September 5, 2009, two of Otaza’s intelligence operatives
infiltrated an NPA unit based in Loreto bearing poisoned food which
rendered NPA troops unconscious and defenceless. Otaza’s operatives then
relentlessly fired at the incapacitated NPA troops, resulting to the
death of four NPA officers and fighters, capture of one NPA fighter and
other casualties.
The
elder Otaza, then acting as NCIP provincial chieftain together with
Capt. Gusi, Officer of MIB 4th ID, planned and ordered the execution of
this carnage which was part of the AFP’s Task Force Gantangan, a major
component of Oplan Bantay Laya 2, the centrepiece of which is the
perversion of the Lumad Bagani culture for military counter-insurgency
and para-militarism. This has been continued by Otaza when he became a
mayor of Loreto in 2010 and has since marked his repressive leadership.
6.
Dario Otaza established and built intelligence networks within NPA
territories in Agusan del Sur for purposes of counter-revolutionary
operations of the AFP, including developing, maintaining, directing of
assets for infiltration, espionage and sabotage.
7.
Coercion and forcible recruitment of Lumads into paramilitary/bagani
group, to serve as counter-revolutionary spies, coercing and directing
them to commit armed actions against the revolutionary movement and
unsparingly, against unarmed civilians.
Over
the last four years, the Otazas have strengthened their fascist rule as
staunch lapdogs and implementors of the US-Aquino Oplan Bayanihan,
despite repeated warnings by the revolutionary movement and appeals by
the suffering masses to stop their atrocious acts.
They
remained unremorseful, adhered to counter-revolutionary practice and
continued to be hostile towards the people while they engaged in land
grabbing and plundered the natural resources for their personal wealth
by engaging in environmentally destructive logging operations and mining
activities in the already denuded residual forests of Agusan. Dario
Otaza was also complicit in the sell-out of more than 30,000 hectares of
lands in Loreto, Agusan del Sur to a foreign palm oil plantation
company.
In
refusing to rectify to return to non-violent civilian governance, they
continue to employ and arm paramilitary and Bagani troops to secure and
fortify their oppressive rule and bureaucrat-capitalist interest. Hence,
the Otazas made themselves legitimate targets by the NPA.
In
the case of Daryl Otaza, aside from directly participating in the
commission of the above-mentioned crimes, he was a notorious drug lord
in the town of Loreto and surrounding areas.
In
waging the people’s war, the NPA has been pursuing revolutionary
justice by meting appropriate capital punishment against war criminals
to remove the continuation of the human rights violations and render
justice.
Truly,
the masses rejoice in achieving revolutionary justice in the punishment
of one of the most despotic anti-Lumad mayors in Mindanao!
(sgd.) Rigoberto F. Sanchez
Spokesperson
NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Command
