THE Taguig City Regional Trial Court has convicted a high-ranking leader of the New People’s Army in Southern Tagalog for illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives.
The Department of Justice-Task Force on Anti-Terrorism said Tirso Alcantara, who goes by the alias “Ka Bart,” was convicted by Branch 266 of the Taguig RTC and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Alcantara was also ordered to pay a fine of P30,000 for the crime of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and P50,000 for illegal possession of explosives.
The DOJ said during the hearing, the prosecution told the court that operatives of the Philippine Army and PNP tried to arrest Alcantara in Barangay Iyam in Lucena City on January 4, 2011 on the strength of an arrest warrant for rebellion issued by Branch 59 of the Lucena RTC.
Alcantara tried to escape aboard a motorcycle and fired at troops manning a roadblock, resulting in a firefight that led to his wounding and subsequent arrest.
Recovered from Alcantara were an MK2 fragmentation grenade, nine blasting caps with detonating cord and time fuse, a cal. 45 pistol, two magazines and 14 rounds of ammunition.
Alcantara, according to the DOJ, is an “Executive Committee member and a leading cadre of the CPP-NPA Regional Operational Command of the Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee.”
The military also identified him as second in command to the late Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal.
In 2016, Alcantara and several other political detainees were released by the government as part of efforts to jumpstart peace talks aimed at ending Asia’s longest running communist insurgency.
