DND: Captured female NPA member a relative of Lorenzana's wife

The Department of National Defense (DND) on Sunday said the female New People's Army (NPA) member wounded and arrested after a firefight in Abra last week is a distant relative of Secretary Delfin Lorenzana's wife.

Arsenio Andolong, DND public affairs chief, said there have been reports that arrested NPA member Adriel Dawn Aguilar Aquino was a relative of the Defense chief.

"Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is not related to arrested NPA amazon Adriel Dawn Aguilar Aquino, contrary to what was intimated in some news reports," Andolong said.

He added: "She is a distant relative of the Secretary's wife and this has no relevance to Ms. Aquino's arrest by proper authorities."

Andolong said that according to Lorenzana, Aquino must be treated as a regular NPA member who had been arrested by the authorities despite her relations to the secretary's wife.

Aquino was arrested by members of the Army's 24th Infantry Battalion after a firefight with a 30-member NPA group in Barangay Kiilong-olao last July 1.

Troops recovered from Aquino's group six high-powered firearms and subversive documents. —ALG, GMA News