A TOP New People’s Army (NPA) rebel leader in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region was captured by agents of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 4-A in his hiding place in Sariaya, Quezon early Thursday morning, the Journal Group learned.

The suspect with the alias “Ka Dennis/Marlex/Jonan/Arvin/Eric,” a 42-year-old platoon leader of the NPA’s Apolonio Mendoza Agapay Command operating in the province was tracked down in Barangay Mamala 1 in Sariaya municipality 1 a.m. Thursday by members of the PRO 4-A Regional Mobile Force Battalion RMFB, said PRO 4-A Director Brigadier General Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr.

A team of PRO 4-A RMFB operatives led by Lieutenant Col. Agosto M. Asuncion and Capt. Eman Orivida launched the operation with the support of the PRO 4-A Regional Intelligence Division, the Quezon Police Provincial Office (PPO), the Taguig City Police Station, and the Philippine Army’s 85th Infantry Battalion (IB) and 201st Brigade, the official added.

Tagged as among the “most wanted” rebel personalities in the Calabarzon region, the suspect is the subject of a warrant of arrest for rape issued by Judge Maria Lourdes Gutierrez of the Gumaca Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 173 on November 29, 2022.

No bail was recommended for the temporary liberty of the accused.

The suspect is also known to have been involved in several encounters with security troops in many parts of Quezon, including one in Lopez municipality in 1998, Macalelon in 2001, and Tiaong municipality in 2009.

He is now being held in a local police jail under heavy security pending an official commitment order from the court, said Nartatez.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon