Ex-rebels help locate wanted comrades

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Former insurgents helped the police and military arrest three wanted rebels in Cotabato City on Saturday.

The suspects – identified as Roel Cabales, Catherine Ginoo and Alma Maey Masalon – have been moving between Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte to avoid detection by authorities, according to Maj. Gen. Allan Hambala, chief of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Macapaz, Bangsamoro police director, said Cabales is reportedly the secretary of the New People’s Army (NPA)’s Southern Mindanao Regional Committee and Ginoo is his deputy.

Masalon is reportedly the leader of the medical team of the NPA committee’s Guerrilla Front 53.

The suspects have pending criminal cases filed in different courts in Northern Mindanao and Davao region.

Before their arrest in Barangay Bagua 3, the suspects reportedly hid in areas frequented by terrorist groups.