Cops arrest 2 UP graduates in Nueva Ecija for communist links
CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines—A team of policemen and soldiers on Saturday arrested two University of the Philippines (UP) graduates who have joined the Kabataan and Anakbayan party-list groups for their alleged links to communist rebels in the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija.
The arrest of Gerald Salonga, 24, and Guiller Cadano, 22, in Carranglan town, Nueva Ecija, was confirmed on Sunday by Lt. Gen. Felicito Virgilio Trinidad Jr., chief of the military’s Northern Luzon Command based in Tarlac City.
A separate report from the Army’s 7th Infantry Division based in Nueva Ecija said Salonga, alias “Matt,” and Cadano, alias “Christian,” yielded two 9-mm pistols, two hand grenades and antigovernment papers.
They were arrested after the subject of a search warrant that the government team was serving, Ely Taray, alias “Omeng,” eluded arrest, said Capt. Mark Ruelos, 7th Infantry Division information officer.
Sr. Cecil Ruiz, chair of the human rights group Karapatan in Central Luzon, said Salonga and Cadano were youth organizers and were in Carranglan because one of them had a medical checkup there.
Both are graduates of the UP Diliman Extension Program in Pampanga at Clark Freeport, which is also referred to as UP Pampanga or UP Clark, Ruiz said.
Salonga has a degree in psychology while Cadano has a business management degree, she added.
AFP: No abduction
Citing accounts of witnesses, Ruiz said the two were taken around 3 p.m. in Barangay (village) R.T. Padilla by armed men in a van and two pickup trucks. But military officials denied that they were abducted.
Ruelos said the operation was legitimate and conducted jointly by the Philippine National Police’s provincial public safety company, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Team in Nueva Ecija, and the Army’s 3rd Infantry Battalion.
“The 7th Infantry Division strictly adheres to the rule of law, human rights and international humanitarian law,” he said.
Civilian informants
In a text message to the Inquirer, Trinidad said the police-military team was serving a warrant of arrest in the area when civilians “informed them about the presence of two armed men believed to be New People’s Army [rebels].”
“This resulted in the arrest of the two and the recovery of their handguns and subversive documents,” he said.
Ruelos said Salonga and Cadano were turned over to the Nueva Ecija police, which would file charges against them.
In 2006, UP student activists Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño were abducted at Hagonoy town in Bulacan province, allegedly by soldiers then under the command of Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr., now retired.
Palparan, the former commander of the 7th Infantry Division, was last seen in public on Dec. 19, 2011, when Bureau of Immigration personnel at Clark International Airport in Pampanga stopped him from leaving the country for Singapore.
Later that day, a court in Bulacan issued a warrant for the arrest of Palparan and three other soldiers.
Only his coaccused, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado and Staff Sgt. Edgardo Osorio, have surrendered and have been standing trial for the twin abductions. Another soldier, M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, has yet to be arrested.
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