Troops capture top NPA leaders in Cagayan

CAMP AQUINO, Tarlac — Two senior communist leaders in the Cagayan Valley were captured by government troops after a clash with some 30 New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas.

Lt. Col. Preme Monta, spokesman for the Armed Forces’ Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), identified the arrested rebel leaders as the husband-and-wife team of Lolito Raza, alias Ka Lanlan, and Christina Miguel, alias Ka Senyang.

Raza has been tagged by Nolcom commander, Lt. Gen. Romeo Dominguez, as the alleged head of the NPA’s Front Operational Command in Cagayan, while Miguel is reportedly the secretary general of the Northern Front of the Cagayan Valley Regional Party Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Monta explained that while operatives of the Military Intelligence Group 7 and elements of the 17th Infantry Battalion were conducting combat patrol in Barangay Calawagan in Piat, Cagayan, they chanced upon some 30 NPA guerrillas.

A 25-minute firefight ensued and Miguel was reportedly hit by a stray bullet on the face while Raza sustained a gunshot wound in the leg. Their other companion, Manny de Guzman, alias Ka Dekdek, was also captured.

The three rebels are now confined at the Cagayan Valley Medical Center. — Benjie Villa