Red-tagged leader of Bayan nabbed in Iloilo

ILOILO CITY – Police and military operatives on Tuesday, March 29, arrested a red-tagged leader of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in Panay who was charged last year with murder and attempted murder in relation to a 2020 ambush of soldiers by communist rebels.

Elmer Forro, secretary general of Bayan in Panay, was arrested at dawn in a house in Barangay Lutac in Cabatuan town in Iloilo based on an arrest warrant issued on March 5, 2021 by Gemalyn Faunillo-Tarol of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 76 in Janiuay, Iloilo.

The court set no bail for the murder charge and P120,000 bail for the attempted murder charge.

In a statement, the Philippine National Police in Western Visayas described Forro as “an alleged active member of Communist Terrorist Group operating in the central part of Panay” and as “former” Bayan-Panay secretary-general.

READ: Bayan Muna: Activist’s arrest is ‘harassment’ vs opposition, based on trumped-up charges

Forro was among those charged in court, along with alleged New People’s Army (NPA) leader Carl Teodosio, a certain Mara, and unidentified respondents.

The accused were allegedly among the NPA rebels under the Central Front of the Communist Party of the Philippines in Panay who ambushed troops from the Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion in Barangay Panuran in Lambunao town on April 7, 2020.

Pfc. Mark Nemis, a radio operator, died in the firefight.

Cpl. Christopher Llono, one of the soldiers involved in the clash, executed a sworn statement claiming that when he maneuvered to a higher position during the firefight, he saw Forro among the retreating rebels.