‘Cop killer’ NPA nabbed in Siargao after 2 years in hiding

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 26, 2021): ‘Cop killer’ NPA nabbed in Siargao after 2 years in hiding (By Alexander Lopez)

SUSPECTED COP KILLER. Authorities arrest Thursday afternoon (March 25, 2021) in Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte, Edwin Mongado Sr., the suspect in the killing of police officer Reil Mijares Morgado of the Santiago Municipal Police Station in Agusan del Norte on December 13, 2018. Mongado is the 7th most wanted communist rebel in Agusan del Norte, according to the police. (Photo courtesy of PRO-13 Information Office)

After hiding for more than two years, a suspect in the killing of a police officer was finally arrested Thursday afternoon in the town of Dapa in Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte.

In a statement Friday, the Police Regional Office in Caraga (PRO-13) said Edwin Mongado, Sr. was arrested by a combined team from the Dapa Municipal Police Station and the provincial police offices of Surigao del Norte and Agusan del Norte.

Brig. Gen. Romeo M. Caramat Jr., PRO-13 director, said Mongado, 57, is the seventh "most wanted" communist New People's Army (NPA) combatant in Agusan del Norte for the killing of police officer Reil Mijares Morgado in Santiago town in 2018.

"Morgado died defending himself and his family in a failed abduction attempt and refused to be used as hostage leverage in the peace talk process,” Caramat said.

“Mongado has a standing arrest warrant for murder issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 34 in Cabadbaran City in Agusan del Norte,” he added.

Caramat said Mongado is the political instructor of the Union ng Mag-uuma sa Agusan del Norte (UMAN), an underground organization of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

“This should send a strong message to criminals in hiding. You can run, but you can never hide forever. We are as determined as ever to go after criminals who have been eluding arrest for years, decades even,” Caramat said.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134997