Rights group tells PH communist guerrillas: ‘revolutionary justice’ is plain murder

The New York-based Human Rights Watch characterized as “plain murder” the communist New People’s Army’s execution of a mayor and his son in the southern Philippines. The guerrillas have claimed responsibility for the killing of Mayor Dario Otaza of Loreto, Agusan del Sur, and his 27-year-old son Daryl, a special child. They said it was “revolutionary justice” because Otaza, who belonged to an indigenous community, allegedly had close ties with the military. Otaza was himself a former NPA who left the fold. When he became mayor, his anti-poverty programs freed 21 villages from the influence of the communist fighters. The NPA labeled it as “crime against humanity.” The HRW statement was issued on the day Otaza and his son were laid to rest.

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