Kuratong Baleleng

Kuratong Baleleng
Dates of operation	1986–present
Leader(s)	Octavio "Ongkoy" Parojinog, Wilson Sorronda, Reynaldo Parojinog
Active region(s)	Philippines
Major actions	Narcotics, Assassination, Extortion, Robbery
Status	Active

Kuratong Baleleng is an organized crime syndicate in the Philippines that once was an anti-communist vigilante group. Once the largest syndicate in the country, they received nationwide attention due to their alleged end in a shootout with the Police in May 1995 in Quezon City. However, the group continued to exist with independent individual groups under the Parojinog Crime Family.

History

The group was originally established by the Botanical Youth Club in 1986 to guard against the spread of communist guerrillas in Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur provinces. The first leader, chosen directly by the military, was Octavio "Ongkoy" Parojinog, who allegedly used the group both for its official purpose as well as to conduct illegal activities. Under the leadership of Ongkoy, they managed to drive out most (if not all) insurgents from Ozamiz. But the arms that the Philippine government provided allowed them to take control of the state. They would use their weapons and training to beat back oppositions after the Communists left, and started a criminal career of extortion, robbery, and narcotics sale.

At times other gangs used the name Kuratong Baleleng to cover their own activities. Eventually, the group splintered into multiple, smaller groups around the region. The groups are involved in more variety of illegal activities, including smuggling, kidnapping, murder, carnapping, drugs and illegal gambling. The gang is rooted in the Christian Cebuano community, but has ties to Maguindanao guerillas, which led Muslim Maguindanao clans to become members of the Kuratong Baleleng. According to military intelligence, part of the group's strength is that it is protected by both local and national government officials.

What made the Kuratong Baleleng so successful is their secrecy, and support from many of the Ozamiz population. The generous Ongkoy was called the "Robin Hood of Lawis” by the regular townsfolk. Lawis referred to “inside,” the poor barangays where the initial members of Kuratong Baleleng also came from. These are the same communities who benefited from the patronage of the Parojinogs. Reports from local journalists called the Parojinogs as “approachable, simple people” who had a “soft heart” for those in need.

1995 PACC murder case

In 1995, 11 members of Kuratong Baleleng were killed by the forces of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission, led by Panfilo Lacson. Officers were prosecuted with the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), the largest human rights law firm, serving as the chief prosecutor in the case. In 2003, the High Tribunal remanded the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to once again indict Lacson and 33 other police officials. The trial court dismissed the criminal case, for lack of probable cause. What came next was a aseries of reactionary hits targetted at the people responsible.

In April 2014, a long-time Kuratong Baleleng fugitive, Edgar Digamo, was shot and killed by police after Digamo started shooting at them in Lapu-Lapu, Philippines after hiding for 13 years.

Philippine Drug War

The Kuratong Baleleng and the Parojinog Crime Family as a whole would later be embroiled in the ongoing Philippine Drug War. In 2017, mass graves filled with victims killed by the Kuratong Baleleng was found all throughout Ozamiz. Many of the victims had wounds evident of an execution, and the mass graves were aired nationwide through different news outlets.

The end of the Parojinogs came at the dawn of Sunday, July 30, 2017, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Ozamiz City police conducted a simultaneous raid in the house of the Parojinogs in Ozamiz and other associated properties, leaving 15 persons killed, including incumbent Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and his wife. Another member of the Parojinog family died in the hospital three days after the raid. Parojinog is the third mayor to be killed during the course of country's war on drugs.

However, the end of the Parojinogs did not offocially ended the Kuratong Baleleng as the group became driven underground. As late as 2018, law enforcement managed to nab one of the Kuratong Baleleng's leaders during a raid in Sultan Kudarat.