NPA executes ex-comrade who became military informant

A former communist New People's Army (NPA) rebel based in Southern Mindanao was executed by his ex-comrades for allegedly becoming a military informant and for his purported "crimes against the people" after leaving the group. The NPA’s Valentin Palamine Command (Far South Mindanao) said it meted capital punishment on Cresaldo Banan after trying him in their "People's Court." "Cresaldo Banan, an ex-NPA from Matanao, Davao del Sur was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt for his crimes against the people and his crimes against the revolutionary movement," command leader, Dencio Madrigal, said in a statement posted on the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) website Thursday. He described Banan as "one of the most hated criminal intelligence assets" of the Army's 39th Infantry Battalion. Madrigal said Banan surrendered two high-powered rifles to the military last September and had guided soldiers in combat operations. The NPA also claimed Banan handed over to the military local residents suspected of being NPA supporters "which resulted to their incarceration and torture." "He also butchered several of his neighbors' horses, robbed their products and destroyed their crops on the pretext that since they were NPA supporters, they deserved such treatment. He even manned food blockades during military operations and many people, especially children went hungry because of him," Madrigal said. The statement did not say when and where Banan was executed. Madrigal said Banan even intentionally ignored many efforts made by the NPA to dissuade and neutralize him from his "anti-people" activities. “His case was then brought the People's Court and after a long and thorough deliberation, it was unanimously decided that he be meted with the capital punishment for the gravity of his crimes," he said. - KBK, GMANews.TV