STEPPED-up anti-criminality and counter-insurgency drive by the Police Regional Office 11 (PRO11) in Southern Mindanao this week resulted in the seizure of a cache of New People’s Army (NPA) weapons and explosives and the capture of three wanted criminals in the region, PRO11 Director Brigadier General Benjamin H. Silo Jr. told the Journal Group Saturday.

In a report to Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr., the official said that members of the PRO11 Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB), the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), the PNP Special Action Force (SAF), the Davao de Oro Police Provincial Office, the Army’s 28th Infantry Battalion and the Maragusan Municipal Police Station recovered the NPA weapons on Thursday.

The weapons seized include one M-16 automatic rifle, one caliber .45 semi-automatic pistol, one cal. .357 revolver, seven M-16 magazines, one .45 magazine, 188 rounds of 5.56 live ammunition, four cal. .45 bullets, four .357 live ammunition, and one fragmentation grenade.

The location of the weapons was revealed by several NPA members who had already surrendered to the police and the military.

The recovered weapons were placed under the custody of the CIDG Davao de Oro Provincial Field Unit before their turnover to the local Provincial Forensic Unit, said PNP-CIDG Director Brig. Gen. Ronald O. Lee.

Also, last Thursday, three NPA members who have long been on the PNP and Armed Forces periodic list surrendered to authorities in Nabunturan, Davao de Oro, Silo said.

The official said that the three identified as “Ka Eric”; “Ka Albert/Jobers/Bert”; and “Ka James” were members of the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)/NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Committee operating in the province either as NPA squad supply officer/medic and team leaders.

Silo said that the region’s three “most wanted persons” (MWPs) were arrested in separate manhunt operations this week.

One of the MWPs, identified as alias “Amang”, the subject of a non-bailable warrant of arrest for two counts of rape and listed as the 6th MWP in Magsaysay, Davao de Oro, was arrested last Wednesday in Bgy. Dagupan in Makilala, North Cotabato.

Judge Alexander Yarra of the Bansalan, Davao de Oro Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 11 ordered the suspect’s arrest.

The 2nd, the no. 1 MWP in Banaybanay, Davao Oriental, was arrested in Purok 1 in Bgy. Cabangcalan on Wednesday. The suspect was arrested based on a warrant for two counts of qualified sexual assault issued by Judge Emelio Dayanghirang of the Lupon, Davao Oriental RTC Br. 32 last February 3.

A P200,000 bail was recommended for the temporary liberty of the accused.

The 3rd, described as the 3rd “high-value individual” in Region 11, was arrested during a buy-bust operation in Bgy. San Miguel in Tagum City in Davao Oriental last Tuesday.

Confiscated from the suspect’s possession were more than P40,000 worth of shabu, assorted drug paraphernalia, the buy-bust money topped by a marked P1,000 bill, and a cal. 9mm semi-automatic pistol with two magazines containing 25 live ammunition.

The suspect is now facing charges for the sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act (RA) 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and RA 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act of 2013, said Silo.