Eric Jun Casilao is being escorted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as he returns to the country on Monday from Malaysia. Photo from the Philippine Army
MANILA, Philippines — An alleged top official of the communist New People’s Army was deported to the country on Monday after being arrested in Malaysia for holding a fake passport, the Philippine Army (PA) said.
Eric Jun Casilao was apprehended at Jeti Point International Clearance Gate in Langkawi, Malaysia, on April 1, 2023, after attempting to board a ferry bound for Koh Lipe in Thailand, according to the Army.
The Army said Casilao was put on the Malaysian Red Notice List “for falsification of passport by assuming fake identity.”
“Likewise, after his arrest, Eric Casilao was detained for violating Malaysian Immigration laws and deported to the Philippines on April 17, 2023,” the PA said in a statement.
Casilao, reportedly the secretary of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), has existing arrest warrants for murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and serious illegal detention, the PA also said.
The anticommunist task force lauded Casilao’ arrest.
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict said Casilao “is just one of many who will fall and pay for the consequences of their actions.”
“His arrest in Malaysia, beyond doubt, proves that no criminal or terrorist can escape the long arm of our sovereign laws. Mr. Casilao will now have his day in court and will be accorded due process based on our democratic justice system that he and his cohorts have long wished to destroy,” the NTF-Elcac said in a statement on Monday.
“Rest assured that as we continue to tread the path of genuine peace and equitable development for all, we shall be relentless in running after those who did our fellow Filipinos harm and caused undue suffering and strife on our people for so many years,” it added.
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