PRO11 troops capture top CPP-NPA official
POLICE Regional Office 11 director Brig. Gen. Leon Victor Z. Rosete yesterday announced the capture of a top Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army official in Mindanao who even participated in the 2016 Oslo talks during an operation in Tagum City in Davao del Norte.
In a report to Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco D. Marbil, the PRO11 director identified the arrested suspect as Porferio Tuna Jr. alias “Ka Danny/Ampong/Ka Simon”’ described as the 2nd deputy secretary and plenary member of the CPP-NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Committee.
Members of the PRO11 Regional Intelligence Division led by Col. Christopher M. Bermudez , the Army’s 72nd Infantry Battalion, the Davao de Oro Provincial Police Office and the Mawab Municipal Police Station tracked down the no. 1 rebel target in Southern Mindanao in Purok Magkidong in Bgy. Mankilam in Tagum City 6 a.m. Wednesday.
Rosete said the suspect was arrested on the strength of the following warrants of arrest: Kidnapping and serious illegal detention issued by the Nabunturan Regional Trial Court Branch 3 in Compostela Valley; serious illegal detention issued by the Tagum City RTC Branch 31; murder issued by the Tagum City Provincial Prosecutor’s Office; and robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons issued by the Nabunturan RTC Branch 3.
The Davao City Police Station also filed an attempted homicide case against Tuna, who was accused of committing a number of atrocities against government troops in the region.
They include an attack at the Army’s 60th IB base in Bgy. Gupitan in Kapalong, Davao del Norte which led to the killing of 2nd Lt. Richard Bautista and a harassment of soldiers in Bgy. Anitapan in Mabini, Compostela Valley, which resulted in the killing of two Army privates identified only throughtheir last names Padaslao and Teodoro on July 10, 2014.
Rosete said the accused has been previously recognized as a key consultant of the National Democratic Front. On October 21, 2015, he was apprehended and detained at the Davao del Norte Provincial Jail on charges of multiple murder and serious illegal detention.
However, he was released on bail on August 19, 2016 following a motion permitting his participation in the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines held in Oslo, Norway on August 22, 2016.
The suspect is now undergoing custodial debriefing at the headquarters of the 10th Military Intelligence Brigade, said the official.