NDFP consultant arrested

A peace consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), Rafael Baylosis, and a companion were arrested on Wednesday.

Baylosis and Guillermo Roque were arrested at the corner of Aurora Boulevard and Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City by combined operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group - National Capital Region of the Philippine National Police, Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), and the Quezon City Police District, according to a report on Dobol B sa News TV by Benjie Liwanag.

They were nabbed at around 3:45 p.m. during a surveillance operation.

Recovered from them were two cal. 45 pistols, 14 ammunition, and two magazines.

Baylosis is the first NDFP consultant arrested after President Rodrigo Duterte tagged the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People's Army as terrorist organizations. Both the CPP and NPA are part of NDFP.

Tina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general, said in a post on social media that the relatives of Baylosis sought the help of the organization upon learning of his arrest.

As of 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Karapatan has dispatched a quick reaction team to the CIDG-NCR office in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines condemned Thursday the arrest and detention of Baylosis.

Luis Jalandoni, senior adviser of the NDFP negotiating panel and member of the NDFP National Executive Committee, said the arrest was a flagrant violation of the GRP-NDFP Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG, 1995). —Amita Legaspi/BAP/KG, GMA News