DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 9, 2013) – Philippine security forces on Sunday captured a communist rebel implicated in the ambush of a politician in the restive southern region of Mindanao, officials said.
Officials said Joel Yagao, a member of the New People’s Army, was captured in his hideout in Villanueva town in Misamis Oriental. Yagao is being implicated in the ambush earlier this year of Gingoog City Mayor Ruthie Guingona who was wounded in the attack that also killed two others.
Army Capt. Alberto Caber, chief information officer of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said a former rebel who surrendered to the military, also identified Yagao as among those involved in the ambush.
“Yagao, who is facing murder charges, was cornered in his safe house following a tip off from civilians,” Caber said.
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz, commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command, praised security forces for the capture of Yagao. “I commend the residents who provided information to the authorities that led to the successful arrest of the NPA rebel,” he said.
The NPA is fighting for a separate state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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