Murder raps filed vs leftist group members over Sumera slay

Police have filed murder complaints against four alleged members of a leftist group for the killing of broadcast journalist Merlin Sumera near her residence in Malabon City last month. In a statement released Tuesday, Senior Superintendent Cornelio Barrios, Malabon City police chief, was quoted as identifying the suspects as members of the Armadong Operatiba ng Partido Marxista-Leninista ng Pilipinas (Partisano), including its leader, Carlos Alejandro. The murder complaints were filed with the Malabon City Prosecutors Office. An earlier report quoted the Partisano as claiming to be a reincarnation of the notorious Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB), the urban guerilla hit squad that split from the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army in the early 1990s. According to Barrios, they also filed separate charges of grave threats against Emma Nuqui who reportedly threatened to harm Sumera over a land dispute in Barangay Maysilo. Sumera and Nuqui are presidents of two “warring" homeowners’ association in the same neighborhood. Sumera was gunned down last March 24 while getting ready to go to the studios of dzME radio in Caloocan City. Sumera hosted a public service program where she tackles land dispute issues in their neighborhood. The 44-year-old slain journalist was a mother of three. In the same statement, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said he has "given instructions to Col. Barrios to extend support to the Sumera family in their quest to bring her killers to the bar of justice." Robredo said Alejandro could be currently using an alias and was also believed to be behind the murder of Edwin V. Abella, a barangay captain from Navotas City, last March 15. Authorities linked the murder to the leftist group after discovering beside Abella's body a letter bearing the Partisano letterhead and containing an admission to the attack. The Partisano claimed Abella was engaged in estafa and dynamite fishing, and that he was allegedly a local drug syndicates protector. Abella also allegedly molested in separate incidents a 13-year old girl in Malabon and a 12-year old girl in Manila last year. The communist group is also blamed for the 2009 attack on MMDA sidewalk clearing operations head Roberto Esquivel's vehicle. Killed in the incident was Esquivel's driver, while the MMDA official's son was wounded. Like in Abella's case, the assailants left a note at the crime site and owned up to the attack. — RSJ, GMA News