MANILA, April 4 -- Communist guerrillas are believed to have carried out the Easter assassination of a former rebel commander whose surrender to the government last year was seen as a major victory for the peace process, police said Monday.
Philippine National Police Chief Superintendent Romeo Odi said two of the seven suspects in the killing of Leopoldo Mabilangan, better known as Ka Hector, were identified by witnesses as members of the communist New People's Army.
Mabilangan was ambushed and killed Sunday in front of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Batangas Province, 50 miles (80 km) south of Manila. He was pronounced dead on arrival at a provincial hospital with multiple gunshot wounds in his head and body.
President Fidel Ramos told PNP Chief Umberto Rodriguez to intensify the manhunt for the suspects despite a 10-day suspension of military activities against communist guerrillas that does not expire until April 9.
'This should not deter law enforcers and supporting military units from pursuing operations,' Ramos said in a handwritten note to Rodriguez.
Mabilangan was a prominent leader of the powerful NPA Banahaw command in Quezon Province before turning himself in to Vice President Joseph Estrada in January 1993.
He had planned to apply for amnesty under a program unveiled by President Fidel Ramos two weeks ago. His associates said he wanted to run for mayor of his home town.
The murder of Mabilangan has underscored the deep and sometimes deadly divisions that has torn at the fabric of the longest running communist movement in Asia.
Government peace negotiators said the brazen assassination could further muddle stalled peace talks with the Netherlands-based communist leadership.
Manuel Yan, the newly appointed presidential advisor on the peace process, said other rebels wanting amnesty may 'feel unsafe' because of the slaying of Mabilangan.
In a preliminary report to Rodriguez, Odi said sworn statements by two witnesses -- both former comrades in the communist movement -- indicated the NPA rebels were involved in the fatal ambush.
After he left the NPA, Mabilangan reportedly was sentenced to death by a communist court for unspecified crimes against the Filipino people.
Odi has formed 'Task Force Hector' which launched a manhunt for the two suspects. The task force consists of national and local police and other intelligence groups.
The identity of the two suspects and the two witnesses have been withheld for 'security reasons,' Roy Navales, PNP information officer, told United Press International.
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