Cebu City police to post gallery of wanted NPA members

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 3, 2022): Cebu City police to post gallery of wanted NPA members (By John Rey Saavedra)

ON ALERT. A member of the Cebu City Mobile Force Company inspects a motorcycle at a checkpoint along the Transcentral Highway connecting the capital city to the mid-western corridor of Cebu province in this undated photo. Cebu City Police Office deputy chief Lt. Col. Wilbert Parilla on Thursday (March 3, 2022) said they will post a rogues' gallery of wanted New People's Army from other provinces. (Photo courtesy of CCMFC)

The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) headquarters will post in every station and upland detachment a rogues’ gallery of most wanted New People's Army (NPA) members from other provinces.

Lt. Col. Wilbert Parilla, CCPO deputy director for operations, said in a presser on Thursday the headquarters will cascade a list of most wanted persons in 11 police stations, subordinate units, and the Cebu City Mobile Force Company manning detachments in the hinterland villages here.

Although the intelligence units of the Police Regional Office-Region 7 and the CCPO are still validating reports that terrorist groups are planning an attack, the police does not discount such a possibility.

“As usual, we will not discount any possibilities. Always, we remind our stations and lower units to strengthen their target hardening. It means that they have to secure their stations and also make their defense least possible for attacks,” Parila said in mixed Cebuano and English.

Some wanted NPA rebels have fallen into the hands of the authorities but reports said some of them sneaked into Cebu from other provinces to elude arrest.

The Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, 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.

Meanwhile, Parilla said the CCPO headquarters will request to retain a 150-strong augmentation force tasked to enforce strict minimum public health standards down to the village level amid the fourth surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases here last month.

“Our proposal, in our office, together with other staff, we will request they should continue their augmentation works up to the election day. This is especially that Cebu City will be a venue for big political rallies. We will no longer face personnel issues to man local and national campaign activities,” he said. “They should be on stand-by until election day.”

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1168968