The local police claimed that there is a possibility that Barangay Roosevelt, Tapaz Captain Julie Catamin was targetted by the communist rebels.
Police Captain Genesis Roque, chief of Calinog Municipal Police Station, said that the Special Partisan Unit (SPARU) of the New People’s Army (NPA) could be behind the ruthless killing of the village chief.
Catamin was shot several times by motorcycle-riding suspects at Barangay Malitbog Centro, Calinog, Iloilo on February 28.
The victim died on the spot.
“Prior to the summing up session of the Community Support Program (CSP) of the Philippine Army and the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 6, Barangay Captain Catamin has been receiving death threats from the CPP-NPA already,” Roque said.
“This case is still under investigation,” he added.
Roque said Catamin had actively supported the government’s program to end the local communist armed conflict.
His role was crucial in the declaration of the CPP-NPA as “persona non-grata” in Barangay Roosevelt.
Moreover, a Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) was established to investigate the case, he said.*
