BUY-BUST. Lt. Col. Jacquiline Puapo, Malolos City police chief (left), examines the confiscated pieces of evidence from Dionisio Evangelista (seated), an active member of the CPP-NPA who was arrested in a drug buy-bust operation on Tuesday (May 18, 2021) in Barangay Anilao, City of Malolos, Bulacan. Seized from the possession of the suspect were five pieces of heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets containing shabu, seven bullets, buy-bust money, and other subversive items. (Photo courtesy of Malolos PNP)
CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan – A member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) was arrested in a buy-bust operation by joint police and military forces in Barangay Anilao, this city on Tuesday.
The arrested suspect was identified as Dionisio Evangelista, also known as Ka Diony, 68, driver, and resident of Infanta Street in the said village.
In an interview on Wednesday, Lt. Col. Jacquiline Puapo, Malolos City police chief, said the Station Drug Enforcement Unit of Malolos and 70th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army conducted a buy-bust operation against the suspect around 4 p.m.
She said Evangelista was under police and military surveillance for three months prior to the operation due to information that apart from being involved in illegal drugs, he is also an active member of the communist organization, joining activists in protest actions against the government.
“The suspect admitted during interrogation that he was an active member of the CPP-NPA in 2005 when he went to Bataan to join the rebels,” Puapo said, adding that Evangelista came down from the mountains after contracting malaria in 2010.
Confiscated from the suspect were five pieces of heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets containing shabu, seven Carbine bullets, buy-bust money, two NPA books, three pieces of planners, two Kenwood two-way radios, subversive leaflets, several pieces of military uniform, and one motorcycle.
Evangelista will be charged for violation of Section 5 (Sale of Illegal Drugs) and Section 11 (Possession of Illegal Drugs), Article II of Republic Act 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)
