Ranking NPA rebel arrested in Tagum City

TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte, Philippines – Police and Army intelligence agents on Wednesday arrested a ranking communist rebel here, a police regional spokesperson said.

Porferio Tuna, second deputy secretary of the New People’s Army’s Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC), was arrested by elements of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and Tagum City police at Barangay (village) La Filipina around 1:13 p.m., said Supt. Antonio Rivera, spokesperson of the Southern Mindanao regional police office.

Tuna, who has been going by the aliases of Pinot, Ampong, Ricky and Ka Simon, is the alleged spokesperson of the NPA in Davao region, according to Rivera in a text message to the Inquirer. “He was arrested by virtue of an arrest warrant for kidnapping and serious illegal detention issued by the 11th Regional Trial Court branch 3 in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley,” Rivera said.

He said Tuna was being detained at the CIDG regional office 11 in Davao City, as of Wednesday afternoon. SFM