ILOILO CITY -- A key leader of left-leaning Bagong Alyansang Makabayan in Panay Island (Bayan-Panay) was arrested in Iloilo province for alleged murder and attempted murder charges.
The police arrested Elmer Forro, 52, secretary general of Bayan-Panay, on Tuesday (March 29,) in Cabanatuan town on the strength of two warrants of arrest.
Authorities claim that Forro was part of the communist rebels under the New People’s Army (NPA) NPA that ambushed the 301st Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army in Lambunao town last April 2020.
Killed in that ambush was private first class Mark Nemis of Madalag town, Aklan province.
Forro was arrested by combined forces led by Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG-6).
The CIDG-6 worked alongside the Regional Intelligence Division of Police Regional Office (PRO-6), the Provincial Intelligence Unit of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO), the Cabatuan Municipal Police Station, the Lambunao Municipal Police Station, the Special Action Force and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Bayan has condemned the arrest of Forro as “trumped charges”.
“Floro is not an NPA, but state forces have charged him nonetheless,” Bayan said in a statement.
“This is clearly a weaponization of the law where legal activists are blamed for the actions of the NPA. This is red-tagging with dire legal consequences. This should stop. The public should condemn this abuse,” Bayan added.