NPA leader’s arrest foiled Bonifacio Day terror plan

The arrest of a regular committee member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) with a P5 million reward on her head derailed a plot to conduct massive anti-government actions last Nov. 30, military and police officials said yesterday.

Elizabeth Principe, party secretary of the Cagayan Valley regional committee of the CPP-NPA, was apprehended Wednesday along Tuazon Street near Ali Mall shopping arcade in Cubao, Quezon City at about 12:30 p.m. by joint elements of the Army and police intelligence.

“The arrest of Principe is a big blow to the communist rebels that derailed their terror plans,” Army chief Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano said, adding that Principe was alone and did not resist when Army intelligence agents and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) cornered her.

There were intelligence reports that communist rebels planned to conduct massive anti-government actions at the height of the Bonifacio Day celebration the other day.

Verzosa said police probers are also tying up loose ends that would connect Principe’s arrest to the stunt pulled by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV at the Manila Peninsula Hotel.

“We are still trying to establish if her presence has something to do with the Manila Peninsula standoff. We are now looking into this angle,” Philippine National Police (PNP) deputy chief for administration Deputy General Jesus Verzosa said.

Citing police intelligence records, Verzosa said the Magdalo rebel group, led by Trillanes, allegedly has links with the Cagayan Valley regional party committee through Quintin Antonio, one of Principe’s NPA commanders.

Antonio is now the subject of a military and police manhunt, Verzosa said.

“She was arrested while about to meet her contacts here,” Yano said when asked about the possibility that Principe’s presence in Metro Manila had something to do with the standoff at Manila Peninsula Thursday and the Bonifacio Day anti-government protests the next morning.

Yano and Verzosa, presented the still-defiant Principe to the media at Fort Bonifacio yesterday.

“Long live the revolution!” Principe shouted, raising her fist, when she was made to face the media at the Army officer’s club.

Principe has six pending warrants of arrest under her name for the crime of rebellion; kidnapping with double murder in Ilagan, Isabela; robbery with murder in Bambang; robbery with murder in Bayongbong; robbery with murder and robbery with arson, all filed before the local courts in Nueva Vizcaya.

Principe was married to Fortunato Camus alias Ka Norman, a prominent NPA commander killed by government forces in Baler, Quezon in 1975. She is now the revolutionary wife of Leo Velasco, also a central CPP-NPA member and head of the CPP-NPA national military commission.

Word of Principe’s arrest prompted former Cagayan Valley Army field commanders to troop to Fort Bonifacio if only to take a glimpse of the elusive CPP-NPA rebel leader they tried to catch during their stint in the province.

Since she joined the underground movement during the First Quarter Storm, Principe – a University of the Philippines graduate – was never arrested until last Wednesday.

“I am here because I want to see her in person. We looked for her for so long when I was still assigned there,” Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said.

Bacarro earned his medal of valor in Cagayan Valley while fighting Principe and her followers when he was still a lieutenant.

Several Army officers said Principe had been a myth to them. They describe her as a highly elusive and a shrewd rebel leader.

On the other hand, the militant group Karapatan refuted the Army’s claims, saying Principe was “abducted” by security forces.

Principe’s 25-year-old daughter Lorena, who also attended the press briefing, said her mother was not arrested.

“We call it abduction,” she said, adding that her mother is being tortured by her captors.

She said her mother, whom she had not seen for a long time, was in Manila for a much-needed medical check-up and not for anything else.

But Yano and Verzosa shrugged off the allegations, saying that Principe’s arrest was legal as it was covered by warrants of arrest.

As to claims that Principe was a consultant of the CPP-National Democratic Front peace panel, Yano said no documents show that she had participated in the peace talks before.                     

“In fact, there is a P5 million reward for her capture,” one senior Army officer said.

Government security forces will return the warrants issued by the courts in Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya against Principe, who will be detained at Camp Crame.