CEBU CITY – The mother of a 20-year-old rebel slain during an encounter with government troops on Thursday blamed the New People’s Army (NPA) for the tragedy that befell her only child.

Isabel Bucar, mother of Junrey Bucar, who was among the five NPA members killed during an early morning firefight with the Army soldiers in Bilar, Bohol last Tuesday, said there is no one else to blame for the death of her son except the communist terrorist group.

“Ang mga NPA maoy hinungdan kung unsay nahitabo karon sa akong anak (The NPA rebels are responsible for what happened to my son),” Isabel said.

The mother claimed she had no inkling that her son joined the armed movement of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

“Akong anak buotan, hilumon, kugihan ug wala gyud mi magdahum nga naapil siya ana nila nga iyang pananghid molakaw kay manarbaho (My son is a good man, quiet, hardworking and we never expected him to join them, he only told us that he would go to work),” Isabel said. “Sayang lang ang iyang pangandoy (His dream was wasted),” she added.

Isabel told authorities that Junrey was only 15 when he left his family supposedly to work as a laborer in one of the construction sites in Bohol.

Junrey was recruited and eventually became a fighter for the NPA’s Bohol Party Committee under the command of Domingo Compoc alias Kumander Cobra, according to 1Lt. Elma Grace Abulencia, 47th Infantry Battalion civil military operations officer.

Junrey was killed along with four other rebel fighters, including a woman. 

The other fatalities were identified as Joseph Bautista alias Bryan, 33 of Inabanga; Romeo Nabas alias Marlon, 54, from Batuan; Marvin Terig alias Chris, 22, from Danao; and Edionela Nuera alias Mia, 18, from Trinidad, all in Bohol.

Isabel and the other parents of the slain communist NPA terrorists claimed the bodies of their kin on Wednesday.  

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

Abulencia said his mother did not know about Junrey’s involvement in Kumander Cobra’s armed group as the family would still receive money that they thought came from his salary as a construction worker.

“We in the Army want to convey that parents need to be vigilant with our children. The recruitment of leftist groups does not just rotate in one place but in all corners to find someone they can use (for) their illegal activities,” Abulencia said in a message sent to the Philippine News Agency.

She urged parents to “show to our children that they are valued by the family and give them reminders.”

“Education is essential to instill rightful knowledge and save our children from deceptive recruitment. It is important that we have enough knowledge of what is happening in our environment, for if we neglect our children they may one day return to us dead,” Abulencia said. (PNA)