SAN PEDRO CITY – National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant Rey Claro Casambre and his wife Patricia, 72, will undergo inquest proceedings at the Bacoor City Prosecutor’s Office on Friday afternoon, following the couple’s arrest in Cavite.
Casambre, who has actively participated in the back-channel talks with the government, is the fourth NDFP consultant arrested this year after the government earlier arrested NDFP consultants Rafael Baylosis, Adel Silva, and Vic Ladlad.
A report from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-National Capital Region (CIDG-NCR), the lead arresting unit, said Casambre, 67, faced two warrants for murder and attempted murder issued by Judge Emilio Dayanghirang III of regional trial court branch 32 in Lupon, Davao Oriental.
The couple’s counsel Kristina Conti, in a phone interview, said the Casambres were on their way home to Bacoor City after attending the wake of geologist Rolando Peña at the University of the Philippines-Diliman in Quezon City.
“They came from the ‘parangal’ (tribute), had dinner, and were on their way home,” Conti said.
Based on the police report, the couple, onboard their car was arrested by police and army intelligence teams along Molino Boulevard in Barangay Niog 3 around 12:10 a.m. Friday.
“Incidental in the service of the warrant of arrest was the seizure” of a .45 caliber gun, a fragmentation grenade, a detonating cord, and several ammunitions, police report said.
Conti said amid efforts to push through with the peace talks, the recent arrests of the NDFP consultants were a way of the “spoilers of the peace negotiations to drive a wedge into the entire thing.”
A source from the CIDG-NCR said another case in relation to the recovered firearms is being investigated.