Monday, February 17, 2020

'Ranking NPA leader' nabbed in Surigao Sur

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 17, 2020): 'Ranking NPA leader' nabbed in Surigao Sur (By Alexander Lopez)



RANKING REBEL LEADER. Combined forces of the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army arrested high-ranking New People’s Army leader Renan Ayad Cantos, 30, in a checkpoint on Saturday (Feb. 15, 202) in Barangay La Purisima, Cagwait, Surigao del Sur. Officials say Cantos is facing a string of criminal cases that include murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, serious illegal detention, and robbery. (Photo courtesy of PRO-13 Information Office)

An alleged ranking leader of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) was arrested by joint forces of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army in Surigao del Sur over the weekend.

Col. James Goforth, Surigao del Sur Provincial Police Office (SDSPPO) director,
identified the suspect as Renan Ayad Cantos, resident of Barangay Poblacion, Marihatag, Surigao del Sur.

Goforth said Cantos, 30, is known in the NPA movement as alias “Loki, Ronin, and Sanjo” and was the former commanding officer of Platoon 7 of the NPA's Guerrilla Front Committee 19 (GFC-19).

Cantos allegedly also served as the vice commanding officer of the NPA's sub-regional Sentro de Gravidad (SDG) Southland of the guerilla movement's Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee (NEMRC). In addition, police and military officials described him as a former member of the NPA's national special operation group.


In an interview with the Philippine News Agency on Monday, Goforth said Cantos has 11 standing warrants of arrest.

Cantos was arrested by combined elements of the First Surigao del Sur Provincial Mobile Company, Cagwait Municipal Police Station, Regional Intelligence Division of the Police Regional Office 13 (PRO-13) and the Army's 7th Special Forces Company (7SFC) in a checkpoint in Barangay La Purisima, Cagwait, Surigao del Sur.

The warrants of arrest issued by Judge Kimal M. Galacop of the Regional Trial Court Branch 6 in Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur against Cantos cites a string of criminal cases that include murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, serious illegal detention, and robbery.

Goforth said the suspect is now under the custody of Cagwait PNP for proper disposition.

In a statement issued on Monday, PRO-13 police director, Brig. Gen. Joselito T. Esquivel, Jr. said the arrest of Cantos was the result of the" aggressive and intensified campaign of the PNP and the Army against communist insurgency."

Esquivel also called on the remaining NPA combatants in the area to surrender and avail of the integration program of the government.

The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1094025

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