THE National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has declared the defeat of the New People’s Army (NPA) in southern Mindanao following the recent arrest of its leader in Malaysia.
NTF-ELCAC executive director Ernesto Torres Jr commended personnel of the task force who he said “worked tirelessly” to arrest Eric Casilao, brother of former Anakpawis party list Rep. Ariel Casilao.
The Army’s 10th Infantry Division (ID) spokesman Maj. Mark Anthony Tito said Casilao was accosted during a “joint law enforcement operation” conducted by personnel from the AFP, PNP, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Bureau of Immigration, Department of Foreign Affairs, Royal Malaysian Police and Malaysian Immigration.
Tito said Casilao was apprehended at the Jeti Point International Clearance Gate while boarding a ferry bound for Koh Lipe, Thailand.
Casilao was put on Malaysian “red notice” list” for falsification of passport and assuming a fake identity.
Casilao was detained for violation of Malaysian laws and deported to the Philippines yesterday. He has standing arrest warrants for murder, kidnapping, serious illegal detention, and attempted murder.
Tito said Casilao is the secretary of the NPA’s Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC) and member of the communist party’s Central Committee. The government has offered a P5.4 million bounty for his arrest.
“With the arrest of Mr. Casilao… we can now declare that the SMRC, particularly its armed component, is now totally defeated,” said Torres of the rebel leader who he said is also a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Torres said the arrest of Casilao “proves that no criminal or terrorist can escape the long arm of our sovereign laws.”
“Mr. Casilao will now have his day in court and will be accorded due process based on our democratic justice system that he and his cohorts have long wished to destroy,” he said.
10th ID commander Maj Gen. Jose Eriel Niembra said NPA leaders have no safe place to stay and hide, even outside the country.
“The government is determined to capture CTG (communist terrorist group) leaders and terrorists wherever they are,” said Niembra.
Torres congratulated government agencies “for working hand in hand with Malaysian officials in causing the arrest and subsequent deportation of Mr. Casilao.”
“To our Malaysian counterparts, we express our deepest gratitude,” Torres said, adding: “We shall be relentless in running after those who did our fellow Filipinos harm and caused undue suffering and strife on our people for so many years.”
“Mr. Casilao is just one of many who will fall and pay for the consequences of their actions. They can run and hide but we will not be far behind,” he also said.
