DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 18 April)—Eric Jun Casilao, an alleged top leader of the New People’s Army Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (NPA-SMRC), is currently detained at the Criminal investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Davao City after he was deported by Malaysian authorities on Monday.
Maj. Mark Anthony S. Tito, chief of the Public Affairs Office of the 10th Infantry Division, told MindaNews that Casilao was flown to this city from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and arrived at the Davao International Airport (DIA) around 2:10 p.m. on Monday.
Casilao was arrested last April 1 for falsification of passport by assuming a fake identity and was detained for over two weeks before he was deported to the Philippines.
Casilao, who was included in the Malaysian Red Notice List, was nabbed by Malaysian Immigration authorities at Jeti Point International Clearance Gate, Langkawi, Malaysia, while boarding a ferry bound for Koh Lipe, Thailand.
In an information released by the military, Casilao, who has existing warrants of arrest for the murder, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, and attempted murder, is allegedly one of the “most notorious” leaders of the NPA.
In a video of the interview uploaded on “News Fort,” Tito told reporters that the arrest of Casilao, who is also a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was a “clear manifestation that that they have no place to hide, even outside the country.”
He added that Casilao’s arrest has a huge impact on the military’s campaign in the region as Casilao was the last remaining top NPA leader in the region within the SRMC.
“We know that there is still one remaining guerilla front in SMRC which is the Guerilla Front 57 operating in the southern portion of Bukidnon but within the region, there is no one left,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
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