GOVERNMENT troops have arrested two communist leaders, including a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines Central Committee, in Villareal town in Samar, the military said yesterday.
The Army’s 8th Infantry Division (ID), based in Catbalogan City in Samar, named the two as Esteban Manuel, a member of the central committee, and Freddie Bolito, a leader of a New People’s Army unit called “Damol” which is in charge of spreading propaganda to recruit new NPA members.
Maj. Gen. Edgardo De Leon, 8th ID commander, said three individuals were accosted by patrolling soldiers for possession of an Uzi rifle last Tuesday in Villareal town.
One of the suspects, De Leon said, admitted she and her companions are NPA members and were out to fetch a ranking communist cadre the following day.
Follow-up operation resulted in the arrest Manuel, who is in his 70s, and Bolito last Wednesday.
