LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – After more than nine years, authorities finally arrested the other day a leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) tagged in the killing of Masbate-based broadcaster Nelson Nadura.
The suspect, Rowel Caballero Vargas, alias Ka Weng, a former member of the NPA’s executive committee in Bicol, carried a P150,000 bounty and was the third most wanted in the region, said Senior Superintendent Renato Bataller, Bicol police spokesman.
Vargas faces murder and rebellion charges before the Regional Trial Court Branch 47 in Masbate City.
A joint police team arrested Vargas in Barangay Lanang, Aroroy town in Masbate on Wednesday.
Nadura was gunned down by two men while leaving radio station dyME in Masbate City on his motorcycle on Dec. 2, 2003.
Nadura was himself a former NPA leader in Bicol who was granted amnesty in 1998 and subsequently joined the broadcast media.