Cagayan Valley cops make headway in anti-insurgency drive
THIRTY-SEVEN New People’s Army (NPA) members and supporters surrendered while 60 wanted persons were arrested as a result of the stepped-up effort by the Police Regional Office (PRO) 2 to account for felons and put an end to the more than five-decades old communist insurgency in Cagayan Valley, the Journal Group was told yesterday by PRO2 director, Brigadier General Steve B. Ludan.
Ludan said that of the 37 who yielded to them last December 27, four are regular NPA members; 14 are known NPA in the Barrio while 19 others are rebel supporters and sympathizers.
All have renounced their support to the NPA members and are being processed to enable them to avail of the comprehensive government livelihood package for rebel returnees.
“We are going all-out not only in arresting wanted NPA personalities in the region but also in convincing rebels and their supporters to return to the mainstream of the society in line with our support to the whole-of-nation approach of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict,” said Ludan in a report to Philippine National Police chief, General Dionardo B. Carlos.
The Cagayan Valley police director also reported the arrest of six Top Most Wanted Persons and 54 Other Wanted Persons as a result of 60 manhunt operations conducted by his men across the region on the same day.
Three other known drug personalities were also hauled to jail by PRO2 agents during separate anti-narcotics operations which led in the confiscation of some P6,300 worth of shabu.
Ludan also reported the arrest of a gun violator and the seizure of six firearms and three explosives in the region as a result of their intensified effort against loose firearms that could be used to create trouble during the forthcoming national and local elections in May.
