The group Kilusan at Alyansa ng mga Dating Rebelde, which is composed of former communist rebels, on Monday said the local leftists ordered the murder of National Democratic Front consultant Randy Malayao.
KADRE’s “Ka George,” a former rebel who said he worked with Malayao during their time with the communist-led National Youth, said he had evidence to prove that the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-NDF was behind the killing of Malayao.
His statement dovetails with a police statement over the weekend that said Malayao was sentenced to die by the Reds’ revolutionary justice system or “kangaroo court” for dipping into revolutionary taxes or “permit to campaign” and “permit to win” fees taken from political aspirants in Regions 1, 2 and the Cordillera Autonomous Region.
Malayao was gunned down while sleeping on board a bus in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya heading to Cagayan province early Wednesday morning, January 30.
Ka George, who asked that his real name be withheld to protect his family and fellow former rebels, said the “hit” on Malayao can be likened to the bombing of Plaza Miranda in Manila in 1971.
That event was initially denied by the communist group, which pinned the blame on former President Ferdinand Marcos. However, during the 1980s, a member of the communists admitted that it was CPP founder Jose Ma. “Joma” Sison had ordered the bombing to start a revolution, Ka George noted.
Amid growing curiousity over the identities of Malayao’s assassins, the CPP-NPA on Sunday had released a new press statement condemning the summary execution of Malayao and blaming President Rodrigo Duterte and the military for it.
“This aims to cover up the responsibility of state agents, specifically Rodrigo Duterte’s death squads, which he himself ordered to carry out the killing,” Sison said even after the Palace already expressed its condolences to the bereaved families of the slain communist.
According to Ka George, before the killing, Malayao told the communist group he was taking a break from the organization and was heading to Cagayan.
Malayao was formerly the vice president of College Editor’s Guild of the Philippines. He entered the communist movement in 1992, during the time that caused a breakup between the so-called reaffirmists or RAs, who affirmed the leadership of Sison and adopted the Maoist line of guerrilla warfare, rejectionists or RJs who rejected Joma.
A third group within the Reds was called Rejoice that was eventually renamed into the Makabayan bloc, Ka George said. Malayao, he added, is the product of this streamlining who joined the RA.
Part of the streamlining of the RA, the KADRE member said, is the “experimental joining” in the parliamentary struggle through the selection of candidates who would be part of party-list groups like Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Anakpawis, Migrante, ACT, Kabataan, Piston and a political party like Makabayan.
But Malayao used the parliamentary struggle and party-list operations of the communist group as a source of funds for the CPP, particularly to support the NPA, Ka George said.
Millions of pesos were collected from party-list operations and from the alliance with the traditional parties and individuals, he said.
Malayao also led the debate and the formation of a group of “new guards” in the communist movement that became “a thorn on the side of Joma Sison,” Ka George said.
“This is also the reason why Malayao was being encouraged to join the peace negotiations in The Netherlands and Norway to place him under loyalty check of the old guards,” he added.
Malayao no longer agree with the management of the communist leaders, which is why he asked for a break and returned to the Philippines, the KADRE member added.
