Most wanted NPA rebel in Butuan falls

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 30, 2022): Most wanted NPA rebel in Butuan falls (By Alexander Lopez) 

NABBED REBEL. Butuan City police officers arrest Noel M. Dawog, alias Rex, 30, an insurgent under the North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee of the New People's Army in Barangay Anticala, Butuan City Tuesday (March 29, 2022). Dawog is facing criminal charges for multiple attempted murder. (Photo courtesy of Butuan City Police Office)

BUTUAN CITY – The most wanted New People’s Army (NPA) rebel here has been arrested, police said Wednesday.

In a statement, the Butuan City Police Office (BCPO) identified the NPA rebel as Noel M. Dawog, alias Rex, a member of Guerrilla Front 21C of the North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee. He is a resident of Barangay Basilisa, Remedios T. Romualdez, Agusan del Norte.

Dawog, 30, was nabbed by BCPO personnel Tuesday when he was served an arrest warrant for multiple attempted murder in Barangay Anticala.

The warrant was issued by Regional Trial Court, Branch 3, Hall of Justice, Libertad, Butuan City on January 11, 2021.

Dawog was among the identified NPA guerrillas responsible for the harassment and armed encounters with government troops under the Army’s 29th on Sept. 13, 2019, in Sitio Mandalayag, Barangay Pianing.

Col. Excelso Lazaga Jr., the BCPO chief, said Dawog's arrest "only shows that the NPA’s commemoration of their 53rd anniversary is nothing but all worthless promises."

The NPA commemorated its 53rd founding anniversary on Tuesday.

The BCPO chief also called on the remaining NPA rebels here to accept the government's offer of reconciliation and amnesty.

“We call on those who are still in the armed struggle to lay down their arms and return to the fold of the government. A better future awaits you and your family. Surrender now before it’s too late,” Lazaga said.

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

The National Democratic Front has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170961