20 October 2015•Update: 20 October 2015
By Hader Glang and Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines
The lifeless bodies of a Philippines mayor and his son were discovered Tuesday morning, following their abduction the night before.
According to local media, Dario Otaza -- mayor of Loreto town in Mindanao in the southern Philippines, and a New People's Army (NPA) rebel -- and his son, Daryl, were found hogtied in a rural area with multiple gunshot wounds.
The Vice Governor of Agusan del Sur Province, Sante Cane, had earlier told reporters that Otaza and his son were forcibly abducted at gunpoint from their residence in the village of Baan Riverside just after 6:30 p.m. (1030GMT) Monday.
Initial reports said that the abductors claimed to be agents of the National Bureau of Investigation, but the bureau denied operating in the area, according to a GMA News report.
Otaza -- a political ally of Cane -- had been working to end the insurgency in Loreto, a stronghold of the NPA -- the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
He partnered with the government after his surrender in order to ensure that the gains of growth reached a wide spectrum of his constituents.
Cane, however, underlined to Philippines daily the Inquirer that it was too early to hold the NPA responsible.
Former chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Gen. Emmanuel Bautista said Otaza was instrumental in the surrender of 154 NPA rebels last May.
He emphasized Otaza's championing of programs to support rebel returnees in transitioning back into everyday life.
"Several NPA rebels who enjoy kinship with Mayor Otaza through the indigenous peoples network have indicated a desire to re-enter formal society because of the mayor’s integrity, credibility, and the success of his programs."
Later Tuesday, Philippine National Police director Gen. Ricardo Marquez called Otaza a “valuable partner of the community” in leading the campaign against insurgents.
“Mayor Otaza is a former rebel. He was very consistent in his counterinsurgency activities and so we’re sad that a leader will pass away just like that,” Marquez told reporters in Manila.
When asked if police were suspecting NPA rebels were behind the killing, Marquez said: “That is our first impression.”
“But as I always say, we will conclude the investigation but from the looks of it, that seems to be the finding,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer
Otaza and his wife joined the underground movement in the fight against Martial Law, but resurfaced in 1986 after the restoration of democracy.
A member of the Manobo indigenous group, he later took a role in the government’s Service Caravan, which aims at extending basic government services to indigenous peoples.
Since March 1969, the NPA has been waging one of Asia’s longest running insurgencies, which the military says has claimed more than 3,000 lives in the last eight years alone.
Talks with the CPP and its armed wing were suspended a few years ago after the rebels demanded the release of their associates from custody.
