BACOLOD City – A labor leader with suspected links to the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) was arrested in Barangay Caduha-an, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental.
Gaspar “Aldong” Davao – a resident of Barangay Pinapugasan, Escalante City, Negros Occidental – was a suspected ranking official of the CPP-NPA’s Northern Negros Front.
The 55-year-old Davao was on board a public utility van when nabbed by joint elements of the Cadiz City police and the Philippine Army’s 79th Infantry Brigade (79IB) Tuesday evening for allegedly violating a city ordinance requiring the wearing of facemask.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Robert Mansueto, Cadiz City police chief, Davao alighted from the vehicle and prodded policemen to arrest and subdue him while allegedly trying to draw a fragmentation grenade from his sling bag.
Policemen said they recovered from Mansueto a fragmentation grenade, anti-government documents, P14,000 cash, eight cellular phones, cash transaction receipts, letters, a newsletter of the NPA Roselyn Jean Pelle Command, and other documents.
In a press statement, the 79IB tagged Davao as member of the NPA operating in the area.
Davao was brought to Cadiz City police station for proper investigation and filing of appropriate cases.
“Davao is a secretary of White Area Committee of North Negros Front and Secretary of Section Committee “TABACCO”. He is also a Finance Staff of North Negros Front,” the statement said.
Davao was the subject of Search Warrant number No. 5951 for Violation of Republic Act 10591, dated Oct. 31, 2019 issued by Executive Judge Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert of Regional Trial Court, Branch 89, Quezon City, however, the latter was able to escape during the implementation of said warrant, it added.
But the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) decried the supposed illegal arrest of Davao.
The federation claimed that Davao is not a rebel but a NFSW labor leader based in northern Negros Occidental. He was accosted by police personnel without telling him what charges or violations he had committed, it added.
“We saw this arrest of Gaspar Davao as another form of trumped-up cases which Duterte regime adds up to his long list of repressive records against the progressive leaders of the sugar workers,” the NFSW said./PN
