Female NPA leader captured

The military announced yesterday the arrest of a female senior leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) in San Miguel, Bulacan.

Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres Jr., Army spokesman, identified the arrested leader as Evangeline Roquero-Manabat, 33, who used the aliases Ka Che and Ka Tani.

Torres said a combined team of Army and police intelligence agents arrested Manabat last Sunday afternoon in her safehouse in Barangay Salagan, San Miguel town.

Manabat was tagged as the front secretary of the Komite sa Larangang Gerilya (KLG) codenamed “F-1 Eastern” of the NPA’s Bulacan Provincial Committee.

Manabat, according to the military, is also a member of the Executive Committee of the NPA’s provincial command.

The KLG reportedly operates in the municipalities of San Miguel, San Ildefonso and San Rafael, among others.

Seized from Manabat were several SIM cards, a cell phone, personal belongings, four subversive letters, and documents described to be of high intelligence value.

Torres said Manabat had a warrant of arrest for murder issued by Branch 84 of the Bulacan regional trial court.

“Her arrest is expected to further weaken the CPP-NPA organization in the province,” he said, adding that she is now in the custody of the Bulacan police.            – Jaime Laude, Ric Sapnu