Ex-NDFP peace negotiator and rebel returnee Mapano nabbed in Misamis Oriental

A former peace negotiator of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) was arrested during a police operation in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental last Friday, November 27.

The Police Regional Office XIII has said Alfredo "Pares" Mapano was nabbed in Barangay Casinglot after two warrants of arrest were served against him for the crimes of robbery in band and carnapping. 

The warrant of arrest for robbery in band was issued on October 9, 2019 by the Regional Trial Court Branch 7 of Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur with a recommended bail worth P100,000.

Meanwhile, the arrest warrant for carnapping, dated December 19, 2017, was issued by RTC Branch 10 of Malaybalay City with a recommended bail of P100,000.

Authorities said Mapano was working as a security officer at the Phividec Industrial Authority. 

Police noted that the suspect was a former secretary of North Central Mindanao Regional Committee (NCMRC), the Mindanao Commission of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army. 

Mapano also had a P5,300,000 bounty on his head, according to the police. 

Caraga police chief Police Brigadier General Romeo Caramat lauded the personnel who had arrested the high-ranking official of the communist group. He further urged the remaining communist rebels to surrender to authorities. 

"I commend the joint operating units for this notable accomplishment which is a big leap in our more aggressive and intensified campaign against insurgency and wanted persons,” Caramat said. 

“I am encouraging all our remaining brothers and sisters who are deceived by the CPP-NPA terrorists to surrender to the government and return to the folds of the law,” he added. 

In a separate statement on Sunday, the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) said Mapano's arrest casted doubt on the sincerity of the government's call for communist rebels to lay down their arms and return to the folds of law. 

The group said Mapano was pursuing armed struggle for almost 30 years. He was arrested in 2009 and was imprisoned for seven years at the Misamis Oriental Provincial Jail due to several cases.

In 2017, he participated as a negotiator in the peace talks with the government. When the peace process did not prosper, Mapano decided to surrender to the government. 

He was among those placed in the government's program for rebel returnees and was provided employment at the Phividec. 

"While finally leading a normal life with his family, he also devoted time and effort working as an active  partner in the government program for national reconciliation and rebel returnee as a speaker in different peace and reconciliation fora," the PEPP said. 

"He reached out to many former rebels and their families, facilitated their organization to gain legal personality and helped these groups link with government agencies for the improvement of their economic well-being and welfare through livelihood and technical assistance," it added. 

The group said the cases being linked to Mapano were questionable as in the period when all of these supposedly happened, he was already working in Phividec. 

"We view with alarm and concern that Alfredo Mapano, a former peace negotiator and now a rebel-returnee, government employee and active partner of the government program, who took the government’s offer in good faith, has become a victim of the government’s hollow promise," the PEPP said. 

"Instead of the promised 'peaceful return to the fold,' he is once again subjected to political persecution with these latest trumped-up charges filed against him," he added. 

Mapano is currently detained at a jail facility in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur.

He was previously in jail but was released in August 2016 together with other political prisoners to enable them to join the formal peace talks in Oslo, Norway. —KG, GMA News