Communist Party official, two others arrested in Quezon City

November 8, 2018

Police and military arrested Vicente Ladlad, a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines ( CPP) Central Committee, Thursday morning in Barangay San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City. A police report said Ladlad, one of the released National Democratic Front consultants for the peace talks with government, Alberto and Virginia Villamor, both members of his staff were arrested at a reported safehouse by virtue of a search warrant for possessing illegal weapons and ammunition. The search warrant was served in the presence of barangay officials and the president the homeowners association, police said. Police said recovered  were: one Russian-made SKS (AK 47 with Bayonet) with SN 9936459, one mag assembly for AK 47 with 9 rounds 7.62x39mm ammo, one Elisco M16A1 assault rifle with defaced serial number, three magazine assembly (2 long and 1 short) with 80 rounds 5.56 mm ammo, one cal .45 Colt MK IV series 80 with serial number 172629; two mag assembly for cal .45 with 21 rounds of ammunition; one 9mm pistol loaded with 9 ammo, four hand grenades. electronic devices, subversive documents, two flags of the Netherlands. Around 550 am, the apprehended personalities were turned over to Quezon City Police District Station 4 for booking procedure and medical exam. Fides Lim, Ladlad's wife, confronted Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Albayalde before a  briefing at Camp Bagong Diwa.  “Where is my husband?” an emotional Lim shouted. Albayalde instructed police officers to bring Lim to a room to calm down. He later told reporters Lim could see her husband if they are finished with documentation procedures. Lim claimed police planted the evidence recovered at the safe house. “It's very stupid, very unfortunate for the police to be violating the law because they are the ones planting evidence,” said Lim. National Capitol Region Police Director Guillermo Eleazar denied her allegations, saying this is what people claim when they are arrested. Albayalde denied the arrest of Ladlad and two others were a birthday gift. It's just a coincidence. There is no such thing as pasalubong or prize,” he said. The military said Ladlad "is known for his involvement in the multiple murder cases for the purging of communist members tagged by the CPP leadership as alleged government spies in the CPP organization."

At least 67 bodies were unearthed in September 2006 in what is now dubbed as the Inopacan, Leyte massacre involving the Southern Leyte Front of the New People’s Army, the military said.

In a statement, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Carlito Galvez Jr said the arrest of Ladlad  "will create a leadership vacuum in their organization which will speed up the process of defeating insurgency in the country." Since Duterte took office in 2016, Galvez said :"54 prominent communist personalities have been neutralized. This has resulted in the disruption of internal coordination of the Communist terrorist group from the national level down to the NPA platoons."

"This has resulted in the disruption of internal coordination of the Communist terrorist group from the national level down to the NPA platoons," Galvez added.

The AFP said in March, Bicol Region’s top NPA leader Joey Fajardo was killed in a shootout with the police in a subdivision in Barangay Cararayan, Naga City.

Nerita Calamba De Castro, head finance officer of the NPA in Mindanao and secretary general of the “Regional White Area Committee” was arrested by the police in Barangay Bioto, Tandag City, Surigao Del Sur in June.

Authorities also arrested Silva and the Southern Tagalog Regional Party Secretary Edicel Legaspi  known as Joventud Del Fierro in an operation in Sta Cruz, Laguna last month. DMS