By Germelina Lacorte
MindaNews and VERA Files
DAVAO CITY—Dry leaves litter the grassy alley leading to the house in Bago Galera, Toril District here that once belonged to the Pitao family. Beyond the open gate that displays a blue poster of a local candidate in the last elections, the house remains closed, its concrete walls wet from a recent rain, reverberating a stony silence.
The Pitaos don’t live here anymore. Not since Rebelyn was abducted, tortured, raped and killed two years ago. She would have turned 22 on Sunday, March 20.
“All of them have left and rarely come back,” said the payongpayong driver who led VERA Files to the Pitao home midway from the highway.
Payongpayongs or umbrella-covered tricycles like this one used to take Rebelyn to and from her work as substitute teacher at Saint Peter’s College in Toril.
She was the daughter of Leoncio Pitao, also known as Kumander Parago, the head of the New People’s Army Pulang Bagani Command that operated in the Davao area. Despite years of intensive manhunt by the military, Pitao has eluded capture.
Click here (VERA Files) for the rest of the story.