CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Security forces captured a senior communist rebel leader in Surigao City in southern Philippines, officials announced on Monday.
Officials said army and police authorities raided the hideout of Bonifacio Platil, the second deputy secretary of the communist group in north-eastern Mindanao.
Platil is facing a string of criminal charges and is currently being interrogated by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Butuan City.
The capture of Platil came at a time that communist rebel leaders were pushing for the resumption of the long abandoned peace talks with Manila.
Officials also linked Platil to the spate of roadside bombings that killed and wounded soldiers and policemen, and even civilians in various areas in Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur provinces, including in Butuan City.
Major General Oscar Lactao, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, said Platil is one of the brains of terroristic activities in the Caraga region.
“He is a fugitive of the law, and destroyer of hopes of thousand Filipinos in Caraga. For those who were victimized especially those who were killed by this criminal, we are one step closer in achieving justice,” he said.
There was no immediate statement from the NPA, which is waging a separatist war for many decades now. Peace talks collapsed in 2011 after Manila rejected rebel demands to free all jailed political prisoners and communist leaders, among others. (Mindanao Examiner)
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