MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / June 7, 2014) – Security forces captured a senior communist rebel leader in Tanjay City in the central Philippine province Negros Oriental, the army said on Saturday.
It said the rebel leader, who goes by the nom de guerre Pediong and Nasyo, was arrested at a joint military and police checkpoint in the village of Tugas late on Friday. Pediong is said to be the Secretary of the Southeast Front of the New People’s Army in Negros.
Troops also seized from him a fragmentation grenade and several identification cards with different names, believed to be his aliases, to conceal his real identity.
The army said the rebel leader is facing murder charges and that he was positively identified by former NPA fighters who surrendered to the government and are now helping the military in its anti-insurgency campaign.
“This development is certainly a big blow to the CPP-NPA in Negros Oriental as its organizational structure has been dismantled. This is the result of the Bayanihan among the people of the province who are eager to attain lasting peace and live in a place that is conducive for uninterrupted economic development,” said Brig. Gen. Francisco Patrimonio, commander of 302nd Infantry Brigade.
The rebel leader is also being linked to the brutal killing of Narciso Bantoto in January this year in the town Siaton also in Negros Oriental. Bantoto was killed in front of his family.
Maj. Gen. Aurelio Baladad, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, praised soldiers and policemen for the capture of the rebel leader. He also urged other rebels to surrender peacefully.
“Your Army is strongly committed to bring lasting peace in this part of the country. It is through Bayanihan or working together where we can find peaceful solution to our problems,” he said.
“We reiterate our call on the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army and the New People’s Army to go down and talk with us peacefully. Abandon the armed struggle for it is not the solution to our societal issues. Let us work together in the spirit of Bayanihan to finally put an end to the insurgency problem of our country,” he added.
The rebels have been fighting for decades now for the establishment of a communist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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