Gov’t troops capture ranking NPA leader in Southern Tagalog

1st Lt. Xy-zon Meneses, 2nd Infantry Division public affairs office chief, in a message Thursday, said Ernesto Samarita alias “Mel”, head of the rebels’ Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee finance committee was arrest at 3 a.m. in Barangay Munting Indang, Nasugbu. (File photo: Armed Forces of the Philippines/ Facebook)

MANILA –Troopers from the Tanay-based 2nd Infantry Division arrested a ranking New People’s Army (NPA) leader allegedly involved in the Jan 29 Pico De Loro raid in Nasugbu, Batangas, during operations Wednesday early morning.

1st Lt. Xy-zon Meneses, 2nd Infantry Division public affairs office chief, in a message Thursday, said Ernesto Samarita alias “Mel”, head of the rebels’ Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee finance committee was arrest at 3 a.m. in Barangay Munting Indang, Nasugbu.

Samarita is also the third highest member of the Komiteng Rehiyon Timog Katagalugan and headed the Tactical Center of the 2nd Congress of the Komiteng Sentral held in Mindanao in January 2017.

He is also believed to be an alternate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Samarita was nabbed in the area after patrolling troops got suspicious of his presence there.

Initially, the suspect tried to escape but was caught by military personnel.

Confiscated from the suspect was a belt bag containg a nine-meter detonating cord and a blasting cap.

Meneses said Samarita initially identified himself as a “Jojo Dimayacyac” of San Pablo, Laguna but this was disproved during subsequent investigations.