Alleged NPA leader arrested in Caraga — police

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The police nabbed a man accused of being a senior leader of the New People’s Army in the Caraga region.

Brig. Gen. Pablo Labra II, director of the Police Regional Office-13 (PRO-13), told reporters via Viber Thursday that the 51-year-old Edgar Manlapaz was arrested last Monday in Barangay Don Alejandro in San Luis, Agusan del Sur.

Labra said Manlapaz is wanted for alleged execution of villagers who refused to pay “protection money” on a monthly basis.

The PRO-13, covering provinces and cities grouped together as Caraga region, said it did not immediately announce the arrest of Manlapaz to allow residents of San Luis who helped the police to relocate to safe areas.

Manlapaz, who the police said served as an information and planning officer of the Guerilla Front 88 of Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee of the New People’s Army, is facing more than 10 criminal cases pending in different courts, the police said.

Labra said Manlapaz, also known as Soldaw Manlapaz, voluntarily yielded after he was surrounded by cops in a secluded area in Barangay Don Alejandro.

One of the warrants for his arrest that personnel of the San Luis Municipal Police Station and the Agusan del Sur PPO showed him was issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 7 in Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur. That arrest warrant against Manlapaz was for allegedly killing an unarmed off-duty soldier on June 20, 2020, in one of the barangays in San Luis.

Labra said the court has not recommended any bail for the temporary release of Manlapaz.