BACOLOD CITY - The local Army has raised the cash reward from P100,000 to P300,000 for anyone who can give information that could lead to the arrest of the armed persons who killed a village chief in Calatrava, Negros Occidental last week.
Lt. Col. J-jay Javines, commander of 79th Infantry Battalion (IB), said they have identified a group of armed men believed to be New People’s Army (NPA) as allegedly behind the killing of Benjamin Javoc, 54, barangay captain of Lalong in the town.
The killing of Javoc happened two days after Danilo Dautil, 62, barangay captain of Cabcab in Isabela town, was also gunned down by suspected NPA rebels on Aug. 24.
Javines said the same group was also allegedly behind the killing of a businessman and a laborer in Barangay Marcelo, Calatrava town early this month.
Javines said they were able to initially raise P100,000 through the help of their partners, various stakeholders, and the local government unit. But, they are looking forward to raising the reward to as much as P300,000, with the support of other individuals.
He said that if they have information about the whereabouts of the perpetrators, they could act on it accordingly.
Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of 303rd Infantry Brigade (IBde), condemned the said killings.
For his part, Police Brig. Gen. Leo Franciso, acting director of Police Regional Office (PRO)-Western Visayas, has directed Police Col. Leo Pamittan, Negros Occidental police to conduct a thorough investigation regarding the two incidents and to check if these two were related.