An operation recently conducted by members of the police and the military successfully captured and served an arrest warrant to a suspected former official of the New People’s Army (NPA) at the Bacolod Public Plaza last Saturday morning.

According to authorities, the suspect was identified as 66-year-old Isidro ‘Gesnar’ Castillo, a resident of Barangay Pahanocoy, who was wanted for murder.

The Philippine Army 303rd Infantry Brigade (303IB) revealed Castillo is said to have previously served as secretary for the NPA Larangang Guerilla 2 and is currently operating as a spokesperson for a group representing local sugarcane workers.

303IB commander, Colonel Eliezer Losañes, said he expects more similar arrests in the future.

“There will be more arrests in the province,” he said.

The arrest comes around the same time Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana slammed the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) after the latter touted the NPA’s capability of “large-scale” criminal activity, which includes extortion.

The DND chief noted reports of individuals leaving the group are in the news every day and said those exiting the organization, which had been branded a terror organization by President Rodrigo Duterte, are sick of the NPA system./PLL, WDJ