PHILIPPINE National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group director Brig. Gen. Nicolas D. Torre III yesterday announced the capture of a high-ranking official of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army/National Democratic Front who is the subject of a P7.8 million reward offered by the government for his arrest.

In a report to PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco D. Marbil, the official said that Prudencio Cebu Calubid alias “Ka Dindo/Tibo,” now 81 years old, has been in hiding over the past 18 years until he was tracked down and arrested in his house at Santol Street Upper in Bgy. Gordon Heights in Olongapo City around 5 p.m. Saturday following a month-long surveillance.

Torre said the capture of Calubid ‘not only disrupts the CTG’s operational network but also sends a strong message of the government’s unwavering resolve to maintain peace and order.

The suspect used to be a peace consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines who was accused of conspiring with other CPP/NPA members to attack the Bayugan Municipal Police Station in Agusan del Sur on June 19, 2004.

The NPA raid led to the killing of Police Officers 1 Marito Carreos and Re Ejercito. The guerrillas also stole 14 PNP-owned firearms, including 11 automatic rifles, and destroyed several police properties during the assault before fleeing.

Members of the CIDG National Capital Region Field Unit and the CIDG Olongapo City Field Unit, with the support of the Olongapo City Police Station, apprehended the suspect who was tagged as a National Most Wanted Person under the List of Communist Terrorist Group Personalities.

The Departments of National Defense and Interior and Local Government offered a combined P7.8 million monetary reward for the arrest of the suspect.

According to Torre, members of the CIDG Manila District Field Unit led the “intelligence-driven” operation to jail the accused who is the subject of non-bailable warrants of arrest for robbery with double homicide and damage to properties issued by Judge Zenaida Placer of the Bayugan, Agusan del Sur Regional Trial Court Branch 7 on September 3, 2006 and another warrant for 15 counts of murder issued by Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina of the Manila City RTC Branch 32 on August 28, 2019.

The accused was fully apprised of his constitutional rights before being taken to the Olongapo CIDG office for booking procedures shortly after his arrest. He was later whisked to the Manila CIDG office for proper documentation and temporary detention while the necessary documents for the return of the warrants to the concerned courts are being prepared.

A record check showed that Calubid was appointed in 1997 as an NDFP consultant in peace negotiations with the government. He was also a member of the Mindanao/National NDF Panel that held talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front from 1998 to 1999.

He became one of the signatories of the first cooperation agreement between the NDFP and the MILF in July 1999 inside the MILF’s Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao.

Prior to that, he became a key leader of the CPP/NPA/NDF’s Central Committee’s National Military Staff who took part in launching several national and inter-regional military conferences, military trainings and projects.

He also actively supervised the implementation of the NPA’s national military campaign in late 2005 .

From 1983 to 1985, he was based in Western Visayas where he helped strengthen the local NPA movement and invigorate the launching of tactical offensives. He also led the regional military conference in Negros and the island-wide NPA military training in Leyte in 1984.

He also held consultations on military work in Eastern and Western Visayas region prompting the CPP/NPA Mindanao Commission to designate him as a member of their Standing Committee until 2001.

The suspect was said to have been a key figure in the establishment and consolidation of many NPA guerrilla fronts in southern Mindanao as well as a number of rebel tactical offensives in Northeastern and Southern Mindanao regions.

Marbil lauded the latest CIDG accomplishment in the campaign against lawless elements.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon