DAVAO City––“I wouldn’t let them capture me alive this time,” Leoncio Pitao, popularly known by his nom de guerre “Commander Parago,” said in an interview in the hinterlands of Paquibato District more than four years ago. True enough, he wasn’t captured alive. But he was killed when he engaged government troops in a firefight in Purok 9, Barangay Panalum in Paquibato district on Sunday. “I’ll get even this time,” added Pitao on Feb. 21, 2011, after he recounted his capture in their house in Toril District in November 1999. He recalled having two grenades with him when police and military operatives surrounded him.  “I was ready to explode the grenades but my wife told me to surrender instead, worried that my children will be harmed, too,” Pitao said. While under the custody of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp), Parago claimed that he was visited by his former captive, Gen. Victor Obillo. He was released in 2001 as one of the preconditions for the resumption of the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF). During this last interview, he kept on reiterating that he wanted to avenge the killing of his daughter. Parago said the murder of his daughter had fueled his courage and determination to strengthen the revolution in the countryside. “If the military believes that they have weakened my resolve with their killing of my daughter, they’re wrong. Now, I won’t ever let you capture me,” the rebel leader stressed. While some called him Ka Ago or Ka Parago, some his comrades and the people of Paquibato District, where he operated, called him “Tatay.” A source in the rebel movement disclosed that the late rebel leader was fond of eating lechon that sometimes he would request for it. “If there are occasions and there are some guests from the urban areas, Ka Parago would request the guests to bring lechon as a present,” the source said. In Paquibato District, younger cadres looked up to him not just as a military leader but as a father in the guerrilla front. On several occasions, friends and sympathizers from the urban areas would come to his guerrilla base to celebrate the movement’s anniversary. Parago was perhaps the busiest of all the NPAs as almost everyone would have themselves take a souvenir picture or even shake hands with him. Simon Santiago, spokesperson of the NPA in the Davao region, said Parago was revered by the masses as defender of the poor and the oppressed. “We salute Ka Parago for his dedication to serve the people and for sowing the seed of the revolution in the hearts of the people. Tatay for the masses and for the people’s armed revolution,” Santiago said in a text message. “His legend lives on,” an activist, referring to Pitao, posted on his Facebook wall. In this city and abroad, activists mourned the death of Parago as they described him as a “legendary warrior who offered his life for the oppressed.” On Sunday night, a source from the rebel movement said Pitao, before his death, could barely walk due to a lingering illness. Moreover, the source said that Pitao may have been injured after he jumped into a ravine when a firefight erupted with the government troops two weeks earlier. Santiago confirmed this statement, saying that it was known to many people Pitao has long been suffering from diabetes and hypertension. “His health problems had affected his mobility but not his courage and determination to serve the people,” he said. Despite his failing health, Santiago pointed out that Parago had never thought of giving up the revolution. “Many of our colleagues had advised him to get some rest and attend to his health needs but he refused,” the NPA spokesperson further said. Parago had recalled that in 2004, he thought it would be the end for him as the military launched an intensified assault against them in Paquibato District. “Many of us were wounded, and we had casualties, too. We thought we’re going to die that time because we hadn’t eaten well for a week as we were far from the masses,” he recalled. It was as running gunbattle in the hills that they almost ran out of ammunition, Pitao said. Parago said joined the NPA in 1978 after his father was killed by government troops in Loreto, Agusan del Sur. Since then, he was noted in leading daring raids against military and police outposts. He made it to the headlines in 1998 when he led the abduction of Brig. Gen. Victor Obillio and Capt. Alex Montealto. Sources from the movement described Parago as one of the brilliant military tacticians in the history of the NPA. He led several raids carting away firearms without firing a single shot. Among them was the raid on the Davao Penal Colony Farm in April 2007. The rebels seized five M-16s, 45 Carbines, 46 shotguns and seven caliber .38 pistols. Pitao had several standing warrants of arrests for murder, robbery and multiple frustrated murder. He was married to Evangeline, who is now reportedly in hiding following the death of their daughter Rebelyn in 2009. Pitao accused government forces as behind the killing of her daughter, but the military has denied the accusation. His eldest son Ryan joined the rebel movement in 2006 when he was 21. The elder Pitao had said his son was forced to join the NPA after unidentified men threatened to kill him. His second daughter Rio, a nurse, reportedly sought a job abroad after the death of her sister. Ismael Gesmalin Jr., a taxi driver in the city who hails from the same hometown as Pitao, recalled that his father, who was once a member of the Integrated National Police, was ambushed by Pitao in 1983 but survived. “I could still remember it, I was still in Grade 1 that time. Our later father told us about it after the incident,” Gesmalin said. “But now, his time has come.” After his dauhter’s death, anger had been written all over his face. He had uttered tough words but remained calm. While he was known as a tough rebel leader, he was a soft-spoken warrior. Parago named several military intelligence agents as behind the killing of her daughter. In the early part of the interview, his voice cracked. But he managed to bring back his composure.  Towards the end of the interview, he managed to smile and cracked some jokes. He admitted that while it is tough for him to have lost a daughter, he had to work hard to give her “revolutionary justice.”–keith bacongco of mindanews