SEIZED. The 62nd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army and the town police arrested a New People's Army rebel Sunday afternoon (Nov. 6, 2022) in La Libertad town, Negros Oriental province. The government troops also seized from his possession a revolver, shotgun, and ammunition. (Photo courtesy of the 62IB)
DUMAGUETE CITY – A joint team from the 62nd Infantry Battalion (62IB) of the Philippine Army and the town police in La Libertad, Negros Oriental province have arrested over the weekend a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
A report from the 62IB on Monday said suspect Tony Elod, alias "Tonyo", a Yunit Militia member of the NPA's Central Negros 1, Komiteng Rehiyon Cebu, Bohol, Negros, and Siquijor, was arrested late Sunday afternoon in Sitio Mabato in Barangay Talaon, La Libertad.
Seized from his possession were a .38-caliber revolver with six rounds of live ammunition; one homemade shotgun with a built-in magazine; and six rounds of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition.
Elod was quoted as saying he was “tasked by the escaping (NPAs) to conduct monitoring on the location of the government forces for them to evade safely”, referring to the rebels who were on the run in the northern part of the province.
His arrest came amidst relentless pursuit operations against a group of armed rebels who figured in a series of encounters with the 62IB soldiers in several villages in Guihulngan City last week.
Maj. Vann Joel Tingson, La Libertad police chief, told the Philippine News Agency they have filed charges against the suspect for violation of Republic Act 10591, or the "Comprehensive Firearms and. Ammunition Regulation Act" at the Guihulngan Regional Trial Court. (PNA)
