PRESS RELEASE
Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines

CPP to RPA-ABB: Lagman assasination, RPA-ABB job
February 8, 2003

On the 2nd anniversary of the assasination of Filemon "Popoy" Lagman, the CPP accused the RPA-ABB for evading responsibility for the killing of Lagman and trying to pass the blame on the CPP-NPA. In a statement, CPP spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal blasted RPA-ABB chieftain Nilo dela Cruz for "hypocrisy in including Lagman's killing among those the NPA has responsibly admitted." The NPA has admitted responsibility for the killing of Romulo Kintanar, Col. Rodolfo Aguinaldo, Conrado Balweg "and other rabid and incorrigible criminals and counter-revolutionaries."

Rosal reiterated that everytime the NPA administers the maximum penalty, it does not fail to explain to the people the just and revolutionary basis for such actions. In the case of Lagman, said Rosal, the CPP-NPA has categorically denied killing him despite having had serious ideological, political and organizational differences with him. When Lagman was still alive, the CPP-NPA regarded him as one of the four principal traitors to the Party and revolutionary movement and who became "a big-time yellow labor leader selling out worker's struggles to the tune of millions of pesos." Aside from Kintanar who was assasinated by the NPA, the others are Arturo Tabara who heads the RPA-ABB and Ricardo Reyes who heads the Akbayan.

Rosal said that dela Cruz and his RPA-ABB cohorts killed Lagman because of money disputes. Rosal explained that the RPA-ABB and Lagman used to belong to the same splinter grouplet but later split after Lagman appropriated the lion's share of more than P400 million in bribe money personally handed over to him by PEA-Amari for his group's cooperation in the eviction of urban poor dwellers from Freedom Island, Parañaque.

Rosal also said that the PNP knew that it was the RPA-ABB that did Lagman in. He said that the PNP had enough evidence to build a case against the RPA-ABB but had no intention of doing so because they were allies. The remnants of Lagman's group are also definite about the RPA-ABB's responsibility for the killing and have since been planning to exact revenge.###

Reference:
Anne Buenaventura
Media Officer
Cellphone Number: +63910-240-3553



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