By Jennifer P. Rendon
Days after he was killed in an encounter, Vicente Hinojales, the top leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) Komiteng Rehiyon-Panay, was laid to rest.
However, the 54-year-old KR-P secretary was not brought to his hometown in Matalam, North Cotabato.
Instead, with the written consent of his younger sister, Helen Hinojales-dela Torre, the rebel leader was interred at the Lambunao Public Cemetery on the afternoon of August 22, 2024.
The Philippine Army’s 301st Infantry Brigade assured that the government provided a decent burial for Hinojales.
A priest administered the rite of committal at his resting place.
The tomb was also properly marked in case the family decides to visit his grave in the future.
Hinojales’ body, already in an advanced state of decomposition, was found on August 15, 2024, in Barangay Cabatanhan, a remote village in Lambunao, Iloilo.
The rebel leader, who used the aliases Arjie, Hadjie, and LJ, is believed to have died in an encounter a week before his body was discovered.
Hinojales, originally from Barangay Linao, Matalam, North Cotabato, was the former secretary of Guerilla Front 14 of the NPA in Mindanao before being sent to Panay Island in 2017.
