Lieutenant Colonel Israel Galorio, the spokesman of Visayas Command (VisCom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reported that the slain IP organizer was identified as Kerlan Fanagel, the chairperson of Pasakaday Salugpungan Kalimudan (PASAKA) / Confederation of Lumad Organization in Southern Mindanao Region.
Fanagel was previously identified as Rogelio Jorillo from Minglanilla, Cebu based on the Office ID recovered from his cadaver. However, upon further verification and consultation with former rebels made by the military and police, it was later found out that his real identity was Kerlan Fanagel, a resident of Barangay Poblacion, Malapatan in Sarangani Province.
“This is a clear manifestation of the deceptive tactics employed by the CPP-NPA. They infiltrate the different sectors in our community to include our Indigenous People, organize them, and use them to go against the government,” Lieutenant General Benedict M. Arevalo, the commander of the Visayas Command said.
Apart from his chairmanship of the aforementioned IP organization, Fanagel is also a council member of KATRIBU, a national IP organization; KALUMARAN Mindanao; and SANDUGO, an alliance of Moro and IP organizations.
He is a member of the Regional Urban Committee (RUC) of the NPA’s Southern Mindanao Regional Command (SMRC), the group that is responsible for organizing the indigenous people for mass protests in the urban centers in Mindanao and in Metro Manila.
Arevalo said that “The presence of Fanagel here in the Visayas validates our assessment that the CPP-NPA is exerting efforts to recover their lost mass bases in the region which was cleared from NPA infestation by our Community Support Program (CSP) Teams with the support of the local task force to end local communist armed conflict.”
Arevalo then reaffirmed their commitment to never allow the resurgence of the CPP-NPA in the region, “We will not allow the CPP-NPA from regaining their foothold anywhere in the region.”
"VISCOM will sustain our momentum and push the CPP-NPA further to the point of their eventual defeat. Thus, we call on them to return to the folds of the law now, while they still have the chance," Arevalo said.
The police had earlier filed cases for kidnapping and serious illegal detention, and human trafficking for evacuating hundreds of indigenous people from Talaingod, Davao del Norte to Davao City on May 22, 2015 against Fanagel and 14 other leaders.
Fanagel’s cadaver was claimed by his brother Kernie Fanagel on September 12 at Baguio Funeral Homes in Carmen, Bohol.
Contributed Photo
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