The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Panay Regional Committee paid tribute to one of the most distinguished leaders of the revolutionary movement in the region, Roberto Moises Cabales (Comrade William), whom the military and police willfully killed on the night of October 5 in Barangay Coto, Lambunao, Iloilo Province. State forces claimed that Cabales and his companion, Mateo Suarez (Comrade Badong), fought back when served with an arrest warrant.
“The revolutionary forces and the broad masses of Panay mourn deeply and are firmly determined to achieve revolutionary justice for the treacherous killing of Comrade William and Comrade Badong,” the Regional Committee said.
The committee reported that more than ten vehicles filled with police and military personnel carried out the operation against the two. The war crime involved the combined forces of the 301st Brigade under Nhel Richard Patricio and the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Iloilo under Bayani Razalan.
Neighbors said they heard only three gunshots from Suarez’s house. Then armed state forces claimed they brought the victims to a hospital by ambulance. Both were declared dead on arrival.
“Comrade William was one of the most respected leaders of the CPP and the New People’s Army,” the Regional Committee stated.
In his youth, Cabales studied to become a doctor. “He combined his training in Western, Eastern, and traditional medicine to improve treatment for the masses who had long been deprived of adequate medical service,” the committee added.
The CPP regional leadership said Cabales’ aspiration to become a healer inspired him to join the movement that will heal a society afflicted by corruption and poverty. He served the Filipino masses for decades and worked closely with the Regional Committee in leading the revolutionary movement in Panay.
Cabales was also a political prisoner in 1999. The Military Intelligence Group (MIG) arrested and detained him on June 11, 1999, but released him five days later because of wrongful arrest. On November 22 of the same year, MIG abducted him along with Ruben Saluta and secretly detained them. He was surfaced three days later.
Meanwhile, Suarez was a former people’s army member who decided to leave several years ago for health reasons. He remained loyal and devoted to helping and supporting the revolutionary movement.
Suarez was also imprisoned in 2012 at the Capiz Rehabilitation Center. He was released after two years of detention after a court dismissed the charges of murder and illegal possession of firearms against him. After his release, he lived in Barangay Coto but continued to face harassment from the military, who pressured him to join the government’s “balik-loob” program.
According to the Regional Committee, amid the heinous crime of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and PNP, the families and friends of Cabales and Suarez must stand up to hold those involved accountable. However, the committee acknowledged that genuine justice cannot be fully achieved under a corruption-plagued system.
The Cabales Family Resolutely Stands
A statement from Cabales’ family and relatives signified their resolute stand against the Marcos regime’s propagated lies and justifications regarding the willful killing of the two. “We will not accept the others’ stories, especially the slander from those who killed him, about who Roberto Cabales was,” the statement said.
The family said that despite the hardships and trials they experienced along the revolutionary path their patriarch chose, they will always stand by him, respect, and admire him for his convictions. “We give him our love and strongest salute,” they said.
For the them, he was a good grandfather, father, and loving husband. “This is who he was and much more, this is how he was and will always be, no matter how many lies and intrigues the state and its paid speakers spread to control the narrative and legitimize his killing,” the family said.
“Our father decided to leave his family to dedicate his life to advancing change, standing with the poor and powerless,” they said. The family expressed comfort in the solidarity shown by many others whom their father had served and worked with. They also thanked everyone who continued to support him on his revolutionary path.
The family left a challenge to the public: before believing what the military and police say about their father’s killing, listen to the news and open your eyes to the systemic corruption in the bureaucracy, the accumulation of wealth by a few through plunder, and the suffering of the poor during disasters and crises. “Think about it. And think again carefully… our father was not wrong,” they said.
Source : https://philippinerevolution.nu/angbayan/cpp-regional-committee-honors-martyred-panay-revolutionary-leader/