NPA leader nabbed during meeting with Casiño

Soldiers serving warrants of arrest on a suspected communist hitman in Ormoc City, Leyte Monday night found their target in the company of a left-leaning party-list group representative.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño confronted the arresting officers and asked that he be taken with Vincent Borja to the police station after the latter’s arrest for murder and attempted destruction of properties.

Borja was arrested in the house of labor leader Teodoro Dacera in Aurelia Village, Barangay Linao. Also in the house during the arrest were Jimboy Carungay, of Visayas Avenue, Quezon City, and Janice Ramos, of Valenzuela City, Metro Manila.

Casiño denounced the military for the arrest, saying only policemen are empowered to serve arrest warrants. Casiño was briefly detained at the Ormoc police station but was released before midnight. His security escort was disarmed.

"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the brazen, Gestapo-like arrest of Anakpawis Ormoc officer Vincent Borja by Army soldiers right in front of me at around 8 last night (Monday) as we were preparing to attend a campaign rally in Ormoc, Leyte,’’ Casiño said yesterday.

He said he insisted on accompanying Borja for fear that the latter might be summarily executed.

Lt. Col. Lope Dagoy, commanding officer of the 9th Infantry Battalion, led the soldiers who served the warrants. The military said the operation was carried out with policemen.

The warrants for murder were issued in November and December last year, while the one for attempted destruction of properties dates back to 2001.

The military tagged Borja as a ranking member of the Regional Area Committee of the Eastern Visayas Regional Party of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Dagoy said Borja was a lookout in the gunslaying of Sgt. Guillermo Alanasan at a marketplace in Kananga, Leyte on Nov. 7 last year.

He said Borja might also have been involved in the killing of a security officer of the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. in Leyte last year. The victim was a retired member of the Military Intelligence Group of the Philippine Army.

He said the case of attempted destruction of properties was in connection with Borja’s role in the work stoppage at the Philippine National Oil Co. plant in Leyte.

Suspicions heightened

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said Borja’s arrest while in the company of Casiño showed the links of Bayan Muna to the New People’s Army.

Esperon said Casiño even physically tried to stop PO2 Arturo Quilantang Jr. from arresting Borja, while vigorously arguing with the police arresting team.

Eastern Visayas police director Chief Superintendent Ely dela Paz said Dacera’s house has long been suspected by authorities as a communist safehouse.

Dela Paz said Casiño and Dacera could be held for obstruction of justice and for harboring a fugitive.

Borja denied the military’s accusations against him, saying he is a director of the Kilusang Mayo Uno in the region and is actively helping Bayan Muna.

Borja said his arrest was plain harassment intended to sow fear among members of progressive organizations.

At Malacañang, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said authorities should dig deeper into Casiño’s involvement with the NPA.

Gonzales said he has asked the Philippine National Police to submit a detailed report of the incident. He said that based on initial reports, Casiño could be an accessory to a crime or could be held for coddling a wanted criminal.

"What is his true relationship with this NPA hitman?’’ he asked.

The NPA is on the United States’ and the European Union’s list of terror organizations.

"As a responsible member of Congress, he should have at least given due cooperation to the police and be an example to the public and so that he can appropriately explain his side,’’ Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs Gabriel Claudio said in a telephone interview.

He pointed that it is normal for arresting officers to question the companions of those arrested. "It’s (arrest) not political harassment,’’ Claudio said.

Meanwhile, opposition Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. appealed to the government and the military to give party-list members who gave up armed struggle a chance to join the political mainstream.

Pimentel, who was in Ormoc campaigning for his senatorial candidate son Koko, said the arrest of Borja in the presence of Casiño might be construed as harassment of leftist personalities.

Pimentel, who himself was a victim of repression during the Marcos dictatorship, said pressuring leftist groups might force them to take up arms again.

He said the government could not afford to make more enemies as it has been weighed down for so long by the communist insurgency and the Muslim rebellion.

"Me, being from Mindanao know this for a fact that we are facing two insurgency problems."

He said failure of the government to solve the armed rebellions might sap its energy and resources further to the detriment of basic services.

"The basic premise for those coming from the revolution is to try peaceful means," He said. "But if they violate the law, arrest them.’’

In a statement, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said Borja’s arrest was part of the AFP’s "campaign of repression’’ against leftist organizations.

"The aim is to terrorize voters just a few days before the elections. It is a desperate attempt to derail the victory of progressive party-list groups,’’ Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said. – With Paolo Romero, Jess Diaz