AFP to respect court decision in Rosal daughter's case

MANILA, Philippines - The military vowed to respect whatever decision handed by the court on the case of suspected communist rebel Andrea Rosal but is standing by its claim that she is a key figure of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Armed Forces public affairs chief Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said the Judge Advocate Generals’ Office is still verifying the status of Rosal’s case, which was reportedly dismissed by a local court.

“Whatever decision it is we will respect it,” Zagala said in an interview Friday.

“However, it doesn’t change the fact that as a key personality of STRPC (Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee). She is an accessory to all the crimes the NPA in the area has committed,” he added.

Zagala said Rosal has not publicly denied membership in the NPA, the armed wing of the communist movement in the country.

Earlier reports have quoted Edre Olalia, secretary-general of the National Union of People’s Lawyers, as saying that the Pasig Regional Trial Court had cleared Rosal of kidnapping and murder cases filed against her.

Rosal, however, will remain at the Taguig City jail to face a murder case filed against her.

Rosal, then eight months pregnant, was nabbed on March 27 by the military and National Bureau of Investigation personnel in Caloocan City.

Military officials said Rosal was arrested by virtue of warrants of arrest for kidnapping and murder issued in Mauban, Quezon. She was also tagged in a criminal case for attempted homicide filed in Luisiana-Cavinti in Laguna.

Rosal gave birth to a baby girl on May 17 but the infant died the following day.

The suspect’s father, Ka Roger, once became the face of the communist movement in the country. He reportedly died of a heart attack in 2011. –  with a report from Irene Bongcales