4 suspected female NPA rebels captured in Nueva Ecija

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Four women allegedly belonging to the New People’s Army (NPA) were arrested on Saturday by the military and the police in Rizal, Nueva Ecija, the Army’s 7th Infantry Division reported on Sunday.

The army said the rebels, identified as Yolanda Diamsay, Eulalia Pangkaliwangan Ladesma, Rachel Acana Galario, and Elaine Edzel Amocling, were “conducting recruitment, propaganda and extortion” activities in Sitio 32, Barangay Agbannawag when they were arrested at 3:40 p.m., following a tip from an informant,

The army also revealed that Amocling was a student of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Manila.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines recently drew flak from educators and civil rights groups for claiming that school activities in several universities — including screening films that were critical of the Martial Law years under the Marcos dictatorship — were radicalizing students.

The women have been turned over to the Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Soldiers reported that they seized a 9mm sub-machine gun, ammunition, four hand grenades, improvised explosive devices, a laptop, 10 mobile telephone phones, and a printer from the rebels. /ee