Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday, April 20, commended law enforcement agencies for the arrest of suspected Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) leader Eric Casilao earlier this week in Malaysia.
(Photo via Manila Bulletin)
In a statement, the official expressed that she was “glad” the alleged terrorist leader has “fallen.”
“Let me congratulate the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the other government agencies behind the arrest of Eric Casilao on Monday,” she said.
“I am glad that finally, Mr. Casilao has fallen, and I hope that all who died because of Mr. Casilao will get justice,” the Vice President added.
The Vice President noted that Casilao “holds an important position” in the New People's Army (NPA).
She alleged him of “actively hatching plans to attack government forces and infrastructures, attack civilian communities and the killing of Lumad leaders, and the forcible collection of extortion money from mining and agribusiness companies.”
The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), which represents the CPP and NPA at peace talks that the government cancelled in 2017, maintained that Casilao is a peace consultant.
But the Vice President, who was mayor of Davao City before winning the 2022 vice presidential run, stressed that Casilao’s “arrest is only the beginning of the fight for justice for the victims of the bloodbath and other forms of violence perpetrated” him and his group across parts of Mindanao, including Davao region and CARAGA.
Duterte said that “lives have been tragically upended and destroyed” because of the violent ideology of the terror group, even turning into casualty the developments in the countryside.
Casilao was arrested in Malaysia and was deported to the Philippines on Monday.
He was accused of fleeing to Malaysia because the communist insurgency in the Davao region was crumbling.