DAVAO CITY – A consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) has been placed in the custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) after being intercepted at one of the checkpoints here.
In the custody of the CIDG is NDFP consultant Ariel Arbitrario who was nabbed February last year in Tagum City.
Along with Arbitrario were two others, Roderick Mamuyac and Rosario Sinday.
Task Force Davao commander Col. Erwin Bernard Neri, in an interview with reporters, said the three were apprehended Monday morning at the checkpoint after being alerted of the plate number of their Chevrolet pickup truck with plate number ADP 5617.
Neri said that the unit received intelligence from a supposed concerned citizen that there were “wanted personalities” on board the vehicle.
Arbitrario, who is facing murder charges but is on bail, is said to be a participant in the ongoing talks between the GRP and NDFP peace panels.
Anakpawis representative Ariel Casilao was quick to decry the detention of Arbitrario who said that the NDF man’s bail conditions “still held water,” since it is yet to lapse in March.
President Duterte over the weekend said the talks were off between the government and the communist rebels, after reports of overkills of soldiers following the withdrawal of ceasefire by the New People’s Army (NPA).
President Duterte earlier said he is now considering the CPP-NPA-NDF as a terrorist group, tagging them as a group of bandits.
He also ordered the arrest of CPP-NPA-NDF members returning from Oslo, Norway, as the Geneva Convention protocols no longer apply to them. (YAS D. OCAMPO)