By Jennifer P. Rendon
The two alleged ranking members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) who were found murdered in a rented house were buried afternoon of January 28, 2021.
Colonel Gilbert Gorero, Iloilo Police Chief, said they had to bury the remains of the two slain victims to avoid public health risks.
“It’s been a month that we have waited for any family members to claim the bodies but there was none. So, we decided to give them a decent burial,” he said.
The remains of the elderly man and woman were buried at the Oton Public Cemetery.
“Their bodies were already embalmed twice or thrice. That’s why the PNP, the local government unit, and the funeral parlor, have decided to lay to rest their remains,” he said.
If someday family members would come out to claim the body, they would allow provided protocols would be followed.
“They have to bring documents on the identities of the dead and they must secure a permit to exhume the bodies,” Gorero said.
Police have yet to confirm the identities of the two elderly persons who were found dead in a house in Barangay Botong, Oton, in Dec. 26, 2020.
So far, the police only have the statements of former Ilonggo activist and now National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Jeffrey Celiz, or Ka Eric Almendras, who claimed that the slain persons were ranking members of the NPA.
Celiz had earlier pointed out that the two bodies were that of Antonio Cabanatan and Elsa Renton, both ranking leaders of the New People’s Army (NPA).
The Antonio Cabanatan of the CPP-NPA the authorities knew was born on March 2, 1947 in Samar.
He was known as Commander Renato, Boktot, Tobo, Tess, Tony, Steve, and Nelson.
A hunchback, Cabanatan had been a member of the CPP Politburo and CPP Executive Committee.
He was also a secretary of the Komisyon sa Mindanao.
He had a standing warrant of arrest for robbery with double homicide and damage to properties issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 7 in Bayugan, Agusandel Sur.
He was also charged for murder in Palo, Leyte.
He was listed as one of the most wanted persons affiliated with CPP-NPA and had a reward of PHP7.8-million.
