SHOT DEAD. Police eye the alleged involvement of New People's Army rebels in the killing of a farmer in Siaton town, Negros Oriental province last Jan. 20, 2023. Murder charges were filed against six suspects. (Photo courtesy of the Philippine Army)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Murder charges were filed against six suspected members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) over the death of a "sacada" (sugarcane farmer) in Siaton town, Negros Oriental province recently.
Acting provincial police director, Col. Reynaldo Lizarda, said charges were filed Monday at the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office against Jason Delamata, Herman E. Cadayday, John Paul Acebron, and three others who were not immediately identified, who reportedly killed sugar farmer George Silangan Sr.
Delamata was arrested a few hours after Silangan was killed in the morning of Jan. 20, 2023 while on his way to his sugarcane farm at Sitio Bondo, Barangay Napacao in Siaton. He was shot multiple times and died instantly.
The five other suspects remained at large.
Silangan, 46, married and resident of Sitio Kapandes, Barangay Mayabon in the adjacent town of Zamboanguita, was a former member of the Paglaum sa Mag-uuma sa Negros Oriental (PAMANO).
The PAMANO is currently locked in a land dispute in Barangay Napacao after more than 337 “landless” farmers occupied a private property last year.
The landowner has filed an eviction case against the PAMANO. (PNA)
