BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – A ranking police officer in the province said the supposed abduction of two young men in La Castellana town appears to be a ruse after all linked by the Communist underground to the death of top Negros Communist Rogelio Posadas.
Captain Judesses Catalogo, spokesman of the Provincial Police Office here, told DNX the probe of the town police showed Denald Mialen, 18 and Ren-ren Delos Santos, 21, have already returned to their respective homes.
They were reported missing last 19 April 2023 after they allegedly drove their friends home from La Castellana to Hinigaran town.
Mialen’s lover, Jasmen Nicor, however, told DNX the two remain missing.
Their last conversation, according to her, was on the day the two allegedly went missing.
Catalogo said La Castellana police chief, Major Rhojn Darell Nigos, reported to him that they have conducted an investigation into the reported missing persons and found out they have returned home.
Catalogo added the alleged abduction was not true either as they found out from the family of Mialen that they had constant communication even during the time they supposedly went missing.
Police also added this is just a propaganda of the New People’s Army to spread fake news and to give people the impression that such a crime is happening in the province.
Their investigation also revealed that the Delos Santos family had been a supporter of the NPA and the abduction story might just have been made up.
The alleged abduction was first claimed by the Communist Party of the Philippines on its website two days before Posadas was killed in an encounter in Binalbagan town.
Leftist groups accused by the military as rebel fronts later echoed the CPP’s claims in news repiers published on supposed news sites (DNX not among them) identified with the rebels.
