Six alleged NPA members arrested in Davao Oriental

TAGUM CITY—Army soldiers on Friday arrested six alleged New People’s Army (NPA) rebels—including a ranking communist official—in Lupon, Davao Oriental, the military said on Saturday.

The suspected rebels were apprehended by soldiers under the 28th Infantry Battalion in Sitio (sub-village) Tabon-tabon in Barangay Mariano around 3 p.m., Capt. Alberto Caber, public information officer of the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command, said.

Caber identified only four of the arrested suspected rebels as Renato Cuevas alias Tata; Carla, an alleged political instructor; a Gelai and an alias Jessie. The two others were not named.

He said the suspected rebels were arrested while soldiers were conducting security patrol in the area. He said they were accosted and yielded two unexploded improvised bombs, two .45-cal. pistols with ammunition, a fragmentation grenade and backpacks containing “subversive documents.”

“The (suspected NPA rebels) were turned over to the Lupon police station for proper disposition and filing of appropriate charges,” Caber said.

He said the latest arrests brought to 36 the number of suspected NPA guerrillas apprehended by government security forces within the area of Eastmincom this year.

Eastmincom covers the Davao, Cotabato, Caraga and Northern Mindanao regions. RC