Ben Tilyas was punished by the Leonardo Pacsi Command (NPA-Mountain Province) on January 8, 2007 in Kin-iway, Besao, Mt Province, serving revolutionary justice for the people of Besao, Mt. Province and Quirino, Ilocos Sur. A CAFGU under the Bravo Coy of the 54th IB based in Kin-iway, he repeatedly committed crimes against the people and the revolutionary movement.
Tilyas, a resident of sitio Dandanac, Barangay Tamboan, Besao, was a product of the corrupt system currently prevailing in Philippine society. Tilyas was bereft of any compassion toward his victims, which included even his own relatives, and who were as poor as he was. He routinely stole chickens, palay grains, tilapia from fishponds, and other properties, depriving and further impoverishing the already poor peasants of their meager food and sources of income.
The barangay officials and elders in the community heard his cases several times. The elders and kakailian pleaded with him to change his ways but to no avail. At one time, he stole 20 cavans of palay grains in Tamboan. He ransacked a store also in Tamboan. He stole a cow in Sitio Bab-asig, Brgy. Patiacan, Quirino, Ilocos Sur. A unit of the LPC actually stumbled upon him butchering this cow last February 2006. Tilyas was warned by the LPC to stop his criminal activities or face dire consequences. The NPA ordered him to surrender himself to the community dap-ay so that the case can be settled between Dandanac and Bab-asig. Sadly, Tilyas ignored this warning and order.
Shortly before joining the CAFGU, he served as a paid active intelligence agent of the military feeding false and malicious information to the military, endangering innocent civilians as targets of military operations. As a CAFGU, he actively guided troops of the 54 th IB & 50th SRC (Special Rifle Company) during military operations severely affecting the communities of Agawa, Dandanac, Tamboan and Banaao. The peasants' agricultural production activities have time and again been delayed due to these operations. Many civilians have become victims of harassment, threats and illegal interrogation. Last July 2006, illegal searches were made at night time in some residences in Dandanac that Tilyas accused of hiding NPA fighters or firearms. Dandanac's ricefield areas and hunting grounds have been subjected to mortar shelling and machinegun strafing. Mike Uyad, a youth from Agawa, was killed by operating troops of the 54 th IB and 50th SRC guided by Tilyas on July 2006.
Tilyas continuously spread intrigue by pointing out alleged NPA elements and sympathizers. All these false accusations have created havoc among otherwise peaceful communities and made certain people targets of military harassment and violence. His kakailian tried to dissuade him from spreading rumors and maliciously feeding the military with fabricated information. But because their pleas fell on deaf ears, the community finally declared that he exiled from the village. The revolutionary movement has sent him warnings and yet he continued his counter-revolutionary actions. His punishment was necessary in order to stop him from committing further crimes against the people and the revolutionary movement. The revolutionary people's court, with representatives from revolutionary mass organizations, the Party and the Army unanimously decided that Ben Tilyas deserved the death penalty, and ordered the NPA to carry out the decision.
The fate of Ben Tilyas should serve as a warning to all criminals and individuals who are allowing themselves to be used by the military. The LPC will not hesitate to mete out revolutionary punishment against such criminal and counter-revolutionary elements.$$$$$