Alongside ASEAN SUMMIT this December: NPA plans to hold own int'l gathering

The communist New People's Army (NPA) has plans to hold their own international gathering in time for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in December here in Cebu.

This was uncovered with the arrest of two suspected NPA-Central Visayas officials last week.

Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Jose Jorge Corpuz revealed the plan of the NPA during the presentation to the media of the two arrested leaders yesterday afternoon at the Capitol.

Corpuz said, Gerard Lavadia and Sharon Abangan, secretary of the Central Visayas Regional Party Committee and team leader of the NPA hit squad, respectively, admitted during tactical interrogation the communist plans to sow terror during the ASEAN summit.

Corpuz said the NPA will also hold in Cebu their own Asia Pacific Conference of the International Leagues of People Struggle in December, which will be participated in by international delegates who are supportive of the communist movement.

Part of the plan is to mobilize people to hold protest rallies during the ASEAN summit and to possibly conduct bombings during the event to embarrass the government before the international community.

Corpuz said that the NPA is working doubly hard to generate funds for the event resulting to their massive extortion activities.

According to him, part of the extorted money collected by the NPA goes to the arm components of the NPA to "create havoc" during the ASEAN summit.

"Both Lavadia and Abangan cooperated with us during interrogation and reveal the plan of the militants groups here to host a big event in December and invite personalities from other countries," Corpuz said.

Lavadia, 34, who is also a member of the NPA's taxation bureau, was reportedly delegated to extort money from multinationals, business establishments, transport companies and construction firms in Cebu.

Abangan, 33, on the other hand is said to be the team leader of the sparrow unit operating in Central Visayas.

The two were arrested at the Talisay South Central Market last Friday during a joint entrapment operation conducted by the military and the police.

They were caught in the act of receiving money from Meliton de los Santos, general manager of Solid Earth Development Corporation, a sister company of Taheiyo Cement Corporation, and Jerome Paz, senior manager of Taheiyo Cement factory in San Fernando.

Recovered from them were the P250,000 cash, which they received from the cement factory, a laptop computer that they also demanded from the factory, a fragmentation grenade, two caliber .45 pistols, and several subversive documents.

Talisay City prosecutor Marshall Rubia has filed four charges against the accused before the Regional Trial Court late yesterday afternoon.

The charges included rebellion, where there was no bail recommended, illegal possession of firearms and robbery with intimidation against both Lavadia and Abangan.

A case for illegal possession of explosives was separately filed against Lavadia, who is also known for his aliases as Renard Castelo, Juan Miguel Saycon and Ka Renard.

CIDG officials said that sometime in December last year, officials of Taheiyo cement factory went to them to lodge a complaint after they received an extortion letter from a certain Tranquilito del Mundo. The sender claimed to be a member of the regional council of the National Democratic Front in Central Visayas.

Del Mundo in his letter dated September 15, 2005 addressed to Taheiyo general manager Toshio Komatsu demanded a laptop and P250,000 cash.

On September 1 in the afternoon, an entrapment operation was jointly conducted by CIDG and military operatives, which resulted to the arrest of Lavadia and Abangan.

Aside from Taheiyo, 18 other companies have been victims also of the extortion activities of the NPA.

Their arrest also confirmed the information received by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Regional Director Asteria Caberte that a number of exporters complained to her that rebels extorted money from them.

Police Regional Office-7 chief Silverio Alarcio yesterday announced the creation of a 21-man team composed of Regional Mobile Group personnel that will provide round the clock security protection to the premises, management and other interest of the cement factory.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, who heads the provincial anti-insurgency task force, yesterday called on the business sector especially the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry to condemn the extortion activities of the NPA.

Garcia urged the companies, which have been victims of the extortion activities to coordinate with her and assured them of their protection.

The governor also warned the members of the NPA saying that their "days are numbered."

The governor has commended the joint military and police operatives for having arrested two of the key NPA leaders in Central Visayas.

Garcia also announced that on September 11, a reward will be given to the informant who gave them information that led to the successful operation last Friday.

The governor however did not reveal the amount of the reward. Meanwhile, four top government officials are reportedly the target for liquidation by the group.

AFP Central Command chief Cardozo Luna refused to name the officials, who are allegedly in the NPA hit list but said they have already informed the concerned officials to beef up their security.

Meanwhile, relatives of Lavadia and Abangan also filed a petition for habeas corpus against Cebu City Police chief Melvin Gayotin and Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau chief Pablo Labra II to compel them to show the arrested NPA leaders. Assisted by human rights group Karapatan, respective families of Lavadia and Abangan filed the petition for writ of habeas corpus at the Regional Trial Court yesterday morning while other relatives and supporters held a picket outside the Palace of Justice and the provincial capitol.

Karapatan-Central Visayas secretary general Dennis Abarrientos said that the police should show Lavadia and Abangan to court and swear under oath that the two were not in their custody since their arrest.

"We all know that since they were arrested on September 1, the two were brought to Camp Sotero Cabahug. We have witnesses who can prove that they were brought there," he added.

He said that the family of the two alleged rebels must see their relatives because they are worried that they were tortured and made to admit they are members of the New People's Army.

He explained that if the two suspects were indeed rebels and caught in the act of collecting revolutionary taxes from an establishment, the arresting officers could have brought them to the Talisay City police and presented them right away. "Why do they have to keep the two? Now, the police presented them because they were pressured because the family had conducted protests and had sought the court's intervention," Abarrientos said. He added that the recent admission of Central Command Spokesperson Jefferson Omandam that the arrest of Lavadia and Abangan is the result of the all-out war of the government against insurgency and legal fronts of the rebel movement is proof that Garcia has direct hand on the arrest. Earlier, Garcia had declared all-out war against insurgency and alleged legal fronts of the CPP-NPA-NDF like the Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Karapatan, Kilusang Mayo Uno and Gabriela Women's organization. Karapatan and Bayan had claimed Lavadia and Abangan are active members of Bantay Dagat and Anakpawis and had been involved in other anti-government groups but denied the two are members of the NPA. -with Wenna A. Berondo and Edwin Ian Melecio