ARRESTED. Police mug shot of suspected New People’s Army (NPA) amazon Gina Ciano, the third most wanted communist middle-level officer in Sultan Kudarat, who was arrested on Oct. 14, 2019. The suspect has a standing arrest warrant for murder issued by the regional trial court in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat. (Photo courtesy of 6ID)
COTABATO CITY – Military authorities in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat announced Wednesday the recent arrest of a ranking communist rebel operating in the mountains of Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato provinces.
Colonel Wilbur Mamawag, commander of the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade, identified the arrested rebel as Gina Ciano, the third most wanted New People’s Army (NPA) middle-level officer in Sultan Kudarat.
Ciano was arrested last Oct. 14, 2019, but was only announced by the military on Wednesday (Oct. 16, 2019).
In a statement, Lt. Col. Roberto C. Go Jr, the commander of the Army’s 37th Infantry Battalion, said Ciano has a standing warrant of arrest for murder with a PHP200,000 recommended bail issued in 2017 by a regional court in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.
Go led the operation in Barangay Sangay, Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat where Ciano’s house was located.
Ciano, who did not resist arrest, was unarmed when the search warrant was presented by law enforcers.
Major Gen. Diosdado Carreon, chief of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and concurrent head of Joint Task Force Central, said Ciano was also a member of the Center for Lumad Advocacy Networking Services (CLANS), a white area committee of the NPA’s Guerrilla Front 73 operating in the hinterlands of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.
The Guerilla Front 73 is under the Far South Mindanao Regional Party Committee of the NPA in the Soccsksargen region.
Ciano is now detained at the jail facility of the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Police Office in Isulan.
The NPA, together with the Communist Party of the Philippines and National Democratic Front, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)
