Suspected NPA rebel nabbed in Agusan Sur

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY –– A suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla was arrested on Wednesday in San Luis town, Agusan del Sur, the police said.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr., Caraga police director, said Jimson Manlapinding, 29, was arrested on the force of a warrant for murder issued by a court in Bayugan City on Jan. 23, 2020.

Manlapinding, a resident of Don Alejandrino village in San Luis, is accused of killing a civilian militia in Barangay Baylo, in the same town, on Sept. 15, 2019.

Caramat said the suspect, also known as Junjun, belonged to the NPA’s Guerrilla Front 88, which has been the subject of massive military operation in the past months.

Several guerrillas from this area were reported to have turned themselves to the military due to intensified campaigns against them.

Meanwhile, Caramat said additional warrants of arrest for multiple attempted murders and attempted murder were served on human rights worker Renalyn Tejero while in police detention in Butuan City.

Tejero, a paralegal staff member of the human rights group Karapatan, was arrested in Cagayan de Oro City on March 21, and was brought to the regional police custody. The police claimed that Tejero is among the top leaders of the NPA in the region.

Caramat said the fresh warrants stemmed from Tejero’s alleged involvement in the attack against Army troops in Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte on Feb. 5, 2017.

Earlier, Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay said their lawyers are seeking legal remedies for Tejero’s immediate release as they believed that she was just a victim of trumped-up charges.

LZB