From the Manila Bulletin (Mar 1, 2020):
Months of intelligence work led to death of ranking NPA leader in Cotabato, Bukidnon (By Malu Manar)
ARAKAN, Cotabato — The alleged neutralization of a high-ranking official of the New Peoples’ Army (NPA) two days ago was a product of months of surveillance, monitoring and intelligence gathering conducted by the 19th Infantry Battalion and Military Intelligence Company (MICO) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) based here, said an Army official.
Lt. Col. Benjamin Dao-on, commanding officer of the 19th IB, said information about the whereabouts and the alleged extortion activities of Commander Choi, whose real name was Eduardo L. Arnado, 58, of the Guerilla Front 53 of the NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Committee, came from civilians, traders, and other individuals in areas in Arakan in North Cotabato and in Damulog, Bukidnon.
Arnado was the alleged first secretary and finance officer of NPA Front 53 whose areas of operations included the towns of Magpet, President Roxas, Antipas, Arakan, and Kidapawan City in North Cotabato and towns of Kibawe, Kitao-tao, Quezon, and Damulog in Bukidnon.
Dao-on said part of his mission was to capture Arnado. He has also sent emissaries to convince the commander to return to the folds of the law.
“But Commander Choi was firm in his position. He won’t surrender,” said the Army officer.Barangay Chairman Valentino Camino, Jr., of Barangay Salasang in Arakan also told media here that there were efforts to reach out to Arnado for his possible return to mainstream society.
Camino said Arnado has even become a member of the council of Barangay Salasang in Arakan where he worked as kagawad from 1998 until 2004. “He has lived here, with his family, since the 80s, and in 2010, we no longer saw him as he had already become active in the movement,” added Camino.
On Friday, Arnado and few of his men went to Barangay Lampagar in Damulog, Bukidnon to attend a meeting with some farmers who were against the construction of a dam in the area, reports from the 19rh IB said.
At around 3 p.m., he was told government troops were on their way to get him after the Army was tipped of his presence at Sitio Lamoro, Barangay Lampagar.
“They were on the run, but because of old age, Commander Choi fell on the ground. Also, he already sustained gunshot wounds in different parts of his body. It was a running gunbattle,” said Lt. Col. Dao-on.
Arnado was declared dead in a hospital in Damulog, around 330 p.m., and was sent to Rebamonte Preglo Funeral Homes in Barangay Lampagar, also in Damulog, for forensic examination and autopsy.
On Saturday, around 5:30 p.m., Arnado’s wife, son, mother, and a few of his relatives arrived at the funeral home to claim his body. It was reportedly the Arakan municipal government, through Vice-Mayor Jiji Pangilinan, paid for the funeral services.
Dao-on said the AFP’s operating troops that led to Arnado’s “neutralization” included Scout Platoons of the 19th IB and the 3rd IB and MICO of the 10th Infantry Disivion.
They recovered from the area few guns, several rounds of ammunition, and documents that Arnado and his team left as they exited to the “rolling terrains” of the mountains in Bukidnon, added Dao-on.
