NATIONAL Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Brigadier General Jonnel C. Estomo on Tuesday announced the capture of a ranking Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA) personality in the country during a manhunt operation in San Juan, La Union.

In a report to Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr., the official said the suspect with the alias “Marcos Malapit/Ka Edong/Ka Pedring.”

Estomo said that the suspect was tracked down in Velasco Street in Barangay Ili, San Juan, La Union, around 1:00 p.m. Sunday by members of the NCRPO Regional Intelligence Division headed by Col. Romano V. Cardiño.

Officers supported the NCRPO-RID men from the Anti-Terrorism Task Group, the Nueva Ecija and La Union Police Provincial Offices, the Guimba Municipal Police Station, and the Naval Intelligence Security Group in arresting the suspect.

The NCRPO chief described the suspect as a “hardcore” CPP/NPA member who is among those on the most wanted list of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of National Defense (DND).

He said that the suspect is the subject of a non-bailable warrant of arrest for murder issued by Judge Blasio Causapin Jr. of the Guimba Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 32.

The suspect is also the subject of another standing warrant of arrest for murder issued by the Bontoc RTC Br. 33 in Mountain Province.

Estomo said that the accused had been identified as among the armed NPA guerrillas who allegedly ambushed a group of patrolling policemen in the province killing Police Officer Jose Ganao and injuring Police Officer Jose Ruiz.

NCRPO Deputy Regional Director for Operations, Brig. Gen. Jack L. Wanky said that the suspect had been found hiding in different parts of the country over the past 30 years.

“However, information gathered by the NCRPO-RID from a number of informants led to the arrest of the suspect,” he said.

The accused is set to be transferred by the NCRPO to the custody of the Guimba MPS in Nueva Ecija.

Estomo said that the arrest of the suspect is part of their ongoing effort to put to jail most wanted persons in the country, including members of the CPP/NPA who have been long wanted by the law.

“We have snared a bigger fish with national importance and corresponding reward. We are not only intensifying our manhunt operations but also maximizing our coordination nationwide to arrest accused persons hiding in other places and within NCR especially, in order to keep the people of the metropolis safe from all kinds of criminality and threats,” he added.