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2 NPA leaders face raps for explosives, guns

By Teofilo Garcia, Jr.

December 3, 2019, 7:22 pm

NPA LEADERS. The two New People's Army leaders--Christopher Cañete and Virjon Virtudazo-- appear before the Lanao del Norte prosecutor's office on Monday for the inquest proceedings. A team of soldiers and policemen arrested them midnight of Sunday in Sultana Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte. (Photo courtesy of the Army's 1st Infantry Division Public Information Office)

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The alleged New People’s Army (NPA) leaders arrested for illegal possession of explosives and firearms on Monday in Lanao del Norte had been charged, officials said Tuesday.

Christopher Cañete and Virjon Virtudazo underwent preliminary investigation before the Lanao del Norte Prosecutor's Office, said Capt. Clint Antipala, the Army’s 1st Infantry Division information officer.

Cañete and Virtudazo were arrested by a team of military and police in a checkpoint around midnight on Sunday in Barangay Dableston, Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte.

They allegedly yielded an improvised explosive devised (IED), a caliber .45 pistol, a caliber .38 revolver, rifle grenade, and other paraphernalia.

Brig. Gen. Bagnus Gaerlan, Army’s 1st Infantry Division and Joint Task Force Zampelan (the Zamboanga Peninsula and Lanao Provinces) acting commander, said the two have revealed several identities connected to the NPA.

Gaerlan said they also revealed identities of their supporters and their locations as well as their plans, “but details of their revelations are withheld for now pending further verification and investigation.”

He said the arrest and previous armed engagement with NPAs and other threat groups were widely due to the military’s newly-acquired imaging technology, which will be further enhanced in the coming year.

The Army official has called on the remaining NPA members, whom he described as "the exploited ones," to lay down their arms and return to the fold of the law. (PNA)

 

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