THE Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) has designated an alleged leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) as a terrorist under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
Maria Natividad Marian Silva Castro, alias Doc Naty, Doc Nati, Naty, Nati, Yam, Agi, Kyle, Prim and Milo joins scores of other communist leaders earlier tagged as terrorists.
Scores of NPA leaders were designated as terrorists in August 2021, including communist party founder Jose Maria Sison, 83, who died in December last year.
Authorities earlier said Castro is a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Philippines and head of the CPP-NPA National Health Bureau based in Butuan City. However, right groups said Castro is a human rights and health worker in Mindanao.
The ATC yesterday said Castro was declared as a terrorist individual under ATC Resolution 35 adopted on December 7 last year.
Castro was arrested by the police in San Juan in February last year based on an arrest warrant issued by a Bayugan City court for kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
The court dismissed the charges against Castro in March last year for lack of evidence, leading to her release from police custody. But three months later, the court reinstated the charges and ordered her re-arrest.
In the resolution, ATC said Castro was holding key positions in the CPP, NPA, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) which have been designated as terrorist organizations in 2020 and 2021.
It said Castro is a member of the CPP Central Committee and of the executive committee of the Regional White Area Committee, finance officer of the North-Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee, and executive director and trustee of a the community-based health program which the ATC said is linked to the CPP-NPA.
It said Castro is also involved in the “generation, management and supervision” of CPP-NPA-NDFP’s funds that are sourced locally and abroad.
The ATC said there is probable cause to declare Castro as a terrorist based on “verified information, sworn statements and other evidence” gathered by law enforcement and security agencies.
It said Castro violated Section 6 (planning, training, preparing and facilitating the commission of terrorism), Section 10 (recruitment to and membership in a terrorist organization), and Section 12 (providing material support to terrorists) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Meanwhile, operatives of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrested three ranking CPP officials in General Santos City on Sunday night.
One of the suspects was Ruben Abenir Saluta, a member of the CPP Central Committee and secretary of the CPP’s National Propaganda Commission. Saluta, who once served as secretary of the Panay Regional Party Committee, was among 19 NDFP consultants released by the Duterte government in 2016 so they can take part in peace talks. The following year, Duterte terminated the talks due to continued atrocities of communist rebels.
The two other suspects arrested in last Sunday’s operation were Presentacion Estrada Saluta, head of the CPP’s Panay Regional Party Committee, and Yvonne Losaria, deputy secretary of the Far South Mindanao Region.
The three were arrested by CIDG operatives and personnel of other police units at around 8:10 p.m. during a law enforcement operation in Phase 5, Doña Soledad, Barangay Labangal in General Santos City.
Ruben has arrest warrants for multiple counts of murder and frustrated murder while Presentacion and Losaria have arrest warrants for rebellion.
Seized from their possession were six rifles, magazines, assorted ammunition, a hand grenade, other war materiel and personal belongings like laptops and cellphones.
AL KHOBAR
The ATC, under Resolution 36, also declared the Al Khobar as a terrorist organization “for committing extortion, bomb threats, arson, and bombings of public transportation in Central Mindanao from January 2021 to November 2022 that killed and injured numerous individuals and caused extensive damage to properties.”
The council said the group is engaged in “acts intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person, or endangers a person’s life and for engaging in acts intended to cause extensive damage or destruction to a government or public facility, public place or private property.”
