2 communist leaders behind Balweg slay, bombings fall

Two ranking communist leaders believed to be responsible for the killing of former priest and rebel leader Conrado Balweg last December and the March 1 bombing of the Department of Energy (DOE) building have been arrested, the military announced yester-day.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes said Lorna Rivera and Joel Castillo, officers of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its breakaway faction Revolu-tionary Proletariat Army-Alex Bon-cayao Brigade (RPA-ABB), respectively, were arrested separately early this month.

He said the arrests were the result of a month-long sur-veillance operation by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).

Reyes presented the two rebel leaders to the media at Camp Aguinaldo yesterday.

Rivera, who uses 17 aliases including Miel Laurenaria and Commander Liwayway, allegedly ordered the execution of Balweg in Malibcong town, Abra last Dec. 31. She was arrested in Pidigan town also in Abra last March 17 while reportedly presiding over a regional consultation meeting of the CPP.

Balweg, head of the Cordillera People's Liberation Army, was shot dead allegedly by rebels who had meted him the death sentence for betraying the revolution.

Authorities said Rivera, who is secretary of the CPP's regional committee for the Cordillera and Ilocos regions, possessed several computer diskettes and documents that showed local communist guerrillas are receiving funds from foreign sources, including a group in Germany.

Reyes explained that Rivera was arrested by virtue of four warrants issued by various courts in Southern Luzon for murder and kidnapping. A .38 Walther PPK pistol, P44,000 in cash, two ATM cards and a laptop computer were seized from her during her arrest.

ISAFP chief Lt. Gen. Jose Calimlim said Rivera admitted during interrogation that she was responsible for the expansion of guerrilla forces and alliance-building activities of the CPP and its armed wing, the New People's Army.

He said the woman rebel leader was also involved in the infamous Operation Missing Link, an internal purge of the rebel group which caused the death of thousands of suspected military spies among its ranks in the 1980s.

Castillo, on the other hand, was arrested in Sampaloc, Manila by Calimlim's men. He allegedly admitted participation in the March 1 bombing of the DOE building in Taguig and the office of Pilipinas Shell in Makati City.

Known as Virgilio Roxas, Castillo is a ranking officer of the RPA-ABB in Metro Manila. He has been suspected of leading the assassination of businessman Leonardo Ty in 1996 and the bombing of the Philcomcen building in Pasig in 1998.

Reyes said Castillo also participated in earlier bombings of the offices of Petron Corp. and Caltex Philippines Inc. to protest rising oil prices. No one was killed in the attacks.

The military seized a pistol and ammunition for rifles and grenade launchers from Castillo.

Officials say the number of communist rebels rose by six percent last year to 10,600, mainly because of more active recruitment and consolidation after years of suffering battle setbacks.

The NPA, in particular, has intensified attacks against police and military targets since the CPP called off peace talks with the government last May.

The RPA-ABB faction, meanwhile, had expressed willingness to talk peace with the government and preparations for negotiations are under way. -- With AP, AFP wires