Manero denies hand in peasant leader’s slay

“I have nothing to do with Pojas killing”

Norberto Manero yesterday expressed shock he was being linked to the killing of a peasant leader in Davao City last week, saying he is living a new life and has shunned violence that made him famous as a vigilante leader in North Cotabato in the 80s.

This is the first time I heard about this killing, said Manero, who was in Davao City to seek the assistance of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for the release of his brother, retired MSgt. Jose Manero, by communist rebels. The retired trooper was abducted by rebels during a raid on a banana farm in Calinan.

Manero told media yesterday it was unfair he would be blamed for the killing of Celso Pojas, secretary general of the Farmers Association of Davao City, who was shot dead last week in Maa.

Manero as suspect in the killing was sparked by text messages from anonymous senders that circulated here saying that he would revive his dreaded Ilaga, an anti-communist group he formed in Tulonan, North Cotabato in the 80s, to hunt down New Peoples Army rebels and their relatives and sympathizers if his brother is not freed.

He denied this saying he is now living in peace after getting a pardon for a life sentence for the killing of Fr. Tulio Favali in Tulonan in 1985.

This is a malicious attempt to link me to the killing, he said.

Meanwhile, the Davao City Council yesterday approved a resolution authored by councilor Kaloy Bello condemning the Pojas killing.