[UPDATED: November 29, 11:30AM] The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemns in the strongest terms the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the cold-blooded murder of NDFP peace consultants Eugenia Magpantay and Agaton Topacio last Wednesday in Angono, Rizal.

Magpantay and Topacio, both 69 years old, have recently retired from active duty in the revolutionary movement due to infirmities of old age. Magpantay suffers from diabetes and severe arthritis.

The police liquidation of the couple is the most recent in the string of killings and legal persecution against peace consultants of the NDFP in violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

We reject the claims of the police that the couple resisted arrest and were killed in a firefight. In their physical state, the couple would not have been able to manage the sheer number of weapons claimed to be found in the scene, much less put up a rigorous gun battle.

The police operation was treacherously carried out at 3 in the morning while victims were surely fast asleep. Police claims they were fired on their approach is absurd. Reports indicating recovered firearms are patent lies.

The mafia-style execution of Magpantay and Topacio is reminiscent and linked to the recent murder of NDFP peace consultants Randall Echanis and Julius Giron and the killing last year of Randy Malayao.

We hold Duterte, his National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and PNP Chief Debold Sinas as the masterminds behind the killing of Magpantay and Topacio.

The CPP pays tribute to Magpantay and Topacio for their decades of service to the revolutionary cause and to the oppressed and exploited masses. Both were former members of the CPP Central Committee.

Magpantay, who hails from Batangas, was also a member of the Party Political Bureau and the Executive Committee of the Central Committee and served as secretary general. She once headed the National Education Department. She was among the leading Party cadres who convened the 2nd Congress of the Party in 2016.

Topacio was a member of the NPA’s National Operational Command and once served as regional commander of the New People’s Army in Central Luzon. He also served as secretary of the CPP’s Regional Party Committee in Central Luzon. He was born in Nueva Ecija.

Their contributions to building the Party and the New People’s Army (NPA), especially in Central Luzon, are invaluable and will never be forgotten.

We extend our deepest condolences to the children, grandchildren and family of Magpantay and Topacio.