#title:On the Murder of Mayor Cesar Rafael<br>
@@@@@<h1>On the Murder of Mayor Cesar Rafael</h1><!-- Cordillera Peoples' Democratic Front, Simon "Ka Filiw" Naogsan, CPDF Spokesperson, January 1, 2008 </em><br><br>
The Cordillera Peoples' Democratic Front (CPDF) conveys its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family of the late Mayor Cesar Rafael who was mercilessly murdered last December 25, 2007.<br><br>
We condemn in the strongest possible terms the perpetrators of this gruesome killing. Whatever motives the killers had, the murder was extremely overkill. The circumstances of his murder, based on reports, indicate that the mayor was totally helpless and yet his killers pumped almost sixty bullets into his body.<br><br>
We hereby declare officially that the New People's Army has nothing to do with the gruesome murder. There is no case against him in any unit of the New People's Army much less is there any decision to mete out any revolutionary justice against the mayor. In fact, the NPA strictly adhered to its unilateral ceasefire on Christmas Day, and the Red fighters were busy preparing for the December 26 anniversary celebration of the Communist Party of the Philippines.<br><br>
While it is true that he was an avid supporter of the CPLA-Ambo faction for sometime, he has no record of any blood debt incurred against the revolutionary movement to warrant any military action against him. On the contrary, he was not hard put to strike a non-confrontational stance with the New People's Army among his constituency. He readily and fully recognized that Paracelis, as elsewhere in eastern Mountain Province, is a showcase of government neglect and the 'milking cow' of unscrupulous politicians and contractors. He grudgingly agreed that the agrarian reform program of the New People's Army is the correct program to address the economic plight of his constituents.<br><br>
The revolutionary movement is aware of Mayor Rafael's keen interest and advocacy of the role of elders in the promotion and advancement of inter-tribal unity and protection of the national minorities' rights to ancestral land. On the other hand, this does not erase any political lapses he may have committed that have adversely affected his constituents.<br><br>
We challenge the PNP, the AFP and the Arroyo regime to solve this murder case as well as the extra judicial killings of innocent activists and anyone critical of the current fascist regime. #$$$$$