A suspect who claimed to be with the New People’s Army (NPA) asked for money through calls and text messages from three barangay captains in Baclayon, said the town’s Liga ng mga Barangay (LMB) president.

According to Barangay Captain Bonifacio Narit Jr., the unidentified text sender contacted village chiefs Orcesia Israel of Barangay Payahan, Divina Cabahug of Barangay San Isidro and Romulo Caballo of Barangay San Vicente.

The said village chiefs who reported the incident during an LMB meeting noted that the text messages and calls were made through a single cellphone number.

During Baclayon’s Sangguninag Bayan session led by Councilor Rosendo Guingguing on Wednesday, Cabahug reported that the unidentified suspect threatened to kill her and her family if she did not pay up.

According to Cabahug, the suspect called her at 10 a.m. on May 26 telling her that four paid men from Mindanao were out to kill her if the money was not given to them.

Cabahug then reported the incident to police out of fear.

However, none of the text messages were proven to have been from the NPA.

Several instances of scammers using the rebel group’s name to extort money from unsuspecting victims have already been reported in the past.

For his part, Baclayon police chief Sr. Insp. Jesus Daplin said not to irk suspects behind such texts and calls urging recipients not to respond.

Daplin called on victims of such threats to instead report the incident to police. (Rey Tutas)