Lorenzana dismisses Sison claim blaming NPA for Sagay killing is wrong

October 25, 2018

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana dismissed Communist Party of the Philippines ( CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria Sison's accusation that blaming the New People's Army (NPA) for the killings of nine sugar farmers in Sagay, Negros Occidental last week is baseless.

Calling Sison as the mastermind of the 1971 Plaza Miranda bombings, Lorenzana said in a statement on Thursday: "Don’t be quick to point your finger as your other fingers are pointing back at you. You have been unmasked as the man behind these atrocities by no less than your former comrades. Your psywar no longer works."

News reports quoted Sison as saying that "by blaming the NPA, the real perpetrators are covered up and go scot free after murdering the poor farmers, including two minors. This is in line with the Duterte’s policy of killing poor people with impunity.”

Lorenzana replied: "Coming from the mastermind of the Mendiola bombing, the killing of hundreds of New People’s Army (NPA) cadres suspected of being agents of the government, as well as assassination/killings of innocent civilians in the past 50 years?"

Farmers' groups claim that authorities have quickly absolved the military of being behind the killings of the sugar farmers even before an investigation is completed. DMS