Delfin de Guzman arrested by military in May 2006 is different from one mentioned by recent Burgos case witness – AFP

By Ronron
August 31, 2007

The Philippine military claimed Friday that the “Delfin de Guzman” they arrested last May 2006 is different from the one mentioned by a recent witness to the Burgos case.

Armed Forces Public Information Officer Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo that it has been a practice of the communist movement to use pseudonyms repeatedly so as to retain the fear roused by the mention of the name.

“The name Delfin de Guzman was used as early as 1980’s and until now, that name still comes up as a Front Secretary in Bulacan,” Bacarro said.

Based on this, Bacarro said the “Delfin de Guzman” presented last year by then Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Generoso Senga and Police Deputy Director General Avelino Razon, Jr., and the “Delfin de Guzman” mentioned in the Burgos case investigation “are two different persons.”

On Tuesday, Emerito Lipio, an alleged witness of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the Burgos case, claimed that he and a fellow communist rebel were ordered in early April of this year by their leader in Bulacan, Delfin de Guzman, to monitor the movements of Jonas Joseph Burgos, son the late Philippine press freedom icon Jose Burgos.

Lipio said Burgos is their comrade in the Bulacan committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), carrying the alias “Ka Ramon.”

Burgos allegedly pilfered funds from the movement and has been meeting without authority from their leadership some rebel-returnees and a government soldier, causing de Guzman to doubt his sincerity, said Lipio.

Pointing out the arrest of “Delfin de Guzman” last year by the police and military, the mother of Jonas, Edith Burgos, questioned the credibility of Lipio, saying: “How could Delfin de Guzman have ordered him to monitor Jonas when the former was already in military custody?”

The “Delfin de Guzman” presented last year by the police and military was also introduced as the leader of the NPA in Bulacan.

Despite having an arrest warrant issued by a Bulacan court for the crime of murder, the military sought to place de Guzman under its custody for continued interrogation that time.

Asked yesterday where is the arrested de Guzman now, Bacarro said: “I will have to check on that.”

Bacarro, however, issued the claim that the two “Delfin de Guzman” are different persons even if he has yet to find out if the one arrested by authorities last year is just using the said name as an alias or as his real name.

He explained nonetheless that the communist practice of using one alias for every position, despite having different persons holding that, is to maintain the fear factor of the name.

“They do it purposely for extortion. Example, in Bulacan, when they hear “Ka Baste” (the alias of Delfin de Guzman), it connotes fear because it has a history of violence,” Bacarro said.

Therefore, people will heed to the extortion demand, he said.

With his claim, Bacarro said it is therefore not true that the police and military are colluding to cover up the belief of the Burgos family that Army elements were responsible for the abduction and continued disappearance of Jonas./DMS