The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Region 2 announced that one of the three individuals killed in an encounter between government forces and rebels in Sitio Pallay, Brgy. Baliuag, Penablanca, Cagayan, was the top leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in the Cagayan Valley region.
Plormelinda Olet, the director of NICA Region 2, identified the deceased as Edgar Arbitrario, a native of Davao and the CPP-NPA leader in Cagayan Valley; Daniel Marie Pelio, a cum laude graduate from a university in Manila; and Orlando Sagsagat.
Two individuals surrendered during the encounter: Rodel Cadawan, an Agta from Lasam, and Vladimir De Lima, who has outstanding arrest warrants from RTC Branch 211 in Tuao and Branch 26 in Luna Apayao. De Lima is a resident of Quezon City.
Olet also mentioned that Pelio’s family is set to claim his remains from a funeral home in Tuguegarao City, while Sagsagat has already received a proper burial. Arbitrario’s family has yet to be located.
It was revealed that the slain NPA leader, Arbitrario, was a former civil engineering student but dropped out of school after becoming a youth activist.
In addition, the two surrendering rebels admitted that several of their comrades are also willing to surrender and reunite with their families.