May 8, 2009, GMA News, 7:49 AM, Military 'cleared' in NPA daughter’s killing,

May 8, 2009, GMA News, 7:49 AM, Military 'cleared' in NPA daughter’s killing,

MANILA, Philippines - A police task force has cleared the military of the abduction and killing of a daughter of a New People's Army (NPA) leader in Davao City last March.

Online news site Mindanao Daily Mirror reported Friday "Task Force Rebelyn" is instead looking into the actions of the victim's father as the trigger for the grisly crime.

Task Force Rebelyn Pitao vice chief Senior Superintendent Aaron Aquino said there is no evidence linking the killing of Rebelyn Pitao with military personnel named by her father, Leoncio Pitao a.k.a. Kumander Parago.

Instead, he said the task force is focusing on two other angles - the killing of a rebel returnee allegedly on orders of Pitao, and allegations Pitao had been siphoning off money from the NPA, using Rebelyn as conduit.

Unidentified men abducted Rebelyn in Davao City on March 4. Her body was found the next day, bearing signs of torture and rape.

The elder Pitao said he suspects military personnel as being behind the killing.

But Aquino said the task force "tried but failed" to find witnesses who would link Rebelyn’s murder with the military.

Aquino said Rebelyn could have been killed in retaliation for the killing of Roger Navasa, a.k.a. Commander Mimi, a rebel returnee killed in Paquibato last February allegedly on Kumander Parago’s orders.

He also said the task force has already asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which is also part of the task force, to coordinate with the Anti-Money Laundering Council to check the financial assets of Pitao, his wife Evangeline, and their son Rio.

Aquino said the task force has also coordinated with the registry of deeds to check the property asset of the Pitao family. - GMANews.TV