Remains of NPA officer found 3 years after death in Cagayan

BY LIEZLE BASA IÑIGO

BAGGAO, Cagayan – Authorities recovered the remains of a 25-year-old student in Sitio Kapanisuwan, Barangay Bitag Grande here, where she was buried by her fellow New People’s Army (NPA) rebels following her death in an encounter with government troops three years ago, the military bared Monday.

Troops from the 501st Infantry Brigade and policemen in Region 2 exhumed the remains of Justine Bautista alias “Aira,” a medical officer and political guide of the NPA’s Northern Front Region-Cagayan Valley Committee and former student of Cagayan State University.

The discovery of her remains came after a former rebel shared the information about her death.

The military said Aira was a member of the Kabataan and College Editors Guild of the Philippines, before she joined the NPA.

A former rebel told the Philippine Army that their NPA comrades simply buried the body of Aira after she died during a raid on a military camp in San Jose, Baggao, on June 25, 2017.

Major Gen. Laurence E. Mina, 5th Infantry Division (5ID) commander, said the exhumation of Aira’s remains was also witnessed by barangay officials.

“Dahil sa mga lumalabas na kwento na may mga nawawalang bata at estudyante, nakonsensiya ang dating rebelde kung pano nila basta nililibing ang mga kasamahan nila,” Army Maj. Jekyll Julian Dulawan, 5ID public affairs chief, said.

The military and police are still locating the remains of Aira’s mother who was allegedly buried after she was also killed in an encounter last year.

The relatives of the mother and daughter only learned of their death following the recovery of Aira’s remains, according to Dulawan.

Dulawan further said that Aira’s mother was the wife of one Edgar Edra Bautista, alias “Simoy,” reportedly a commander of the NPA operating in Cagayan.