ILOILO City – A resident of Barangay Imparayan, Sibalom, Antique claiming to be a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) turned himself in to the authorities, saying he wanted to quit the rebel group.
The Sibalom police tagged Jeffrey “Jade” Sebonga as one of the five suspects in burning construction equipment in the town on June 1.
But the 25-year-old denied any hand in the torching and said he just wanted to leave the rebel movement. The police later released him.
Sebonga surrendered to officers from the Sibalom police station and the Philippine Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion at 1:45 p.m. on Friday, said the local police chief, Senior Inspector Adolfo Pagharion.
They picked him up in Barangay Pis-anan, Sibalom, Pagharion said.
A witness identified Sebonga as one of the five armed men who burned a multi-cab and a P7-million backhoe in Barangay San Juan, the Sibalom police said.
According to Sebonga, he was a member of Squad 2, Front 11 of the NPA’s Southern Front Committee. He said he joined the rebel group in 2017 after he was promised to get P15,000 to P20,000 a month.
“He (Sebonga) told us he surrendered because he only experienced hunger in the mountains and never received the money he was promised,” Pagharion said.
Sebonga said he had nothing to do with the torching of the multi-cab and the backhoe in Barangay San Juan. He stressed that he was not in the area at the time.
The Sibalom police have yet to arrest a suspect in the torching as of this writing.
After documentation, they released Sebonga, saying no warrant of arrest has been issued against him and the hot pursuit period has already lapsed.
After setting the vehicle and heavy equipment on fire, the armed men barged into the bunkhouse of F and J General Construction where foreman Jonathan Pacete and six other workers were staying.
They did not harm the workers but said they were getting back at the construction company for not paying “revolutionary taxes,” police said, citing investigation. The armed men fled on board two motorcycles.
The construction company has received two extortion letters allegedly from the NPA – one in 2017 and another just this February – said Pagharion.
The NPA was supposedly demanding a “30-percent share” from the cost of the company’s construction project.
It was learned that F and J General Construction bagged the contract for a road-widening project from Sibalom to San Remigio, and has more projects in Hamtic and San Jose./PN
