Family, advocate lament ‘NPA member’s’ arrest
The family of an alleged high-ranking official of the New People’s Army (NPA) and a human rights advocate went to the Cebu Provincial Police Office yesterday and cried foul over the man’s arrest in the municipality of Santander.
Phoebe Zoe Sanchez, a human rights advocate and an associate professor of history and sociology in the University of the Philippines-Cebu, said they asked for the whereabouts of Rustico Tan from the police and military.
“He was a peace negotiator in 1986 and we are wondering if the cases by Marcos activists are being revived. Is this the ploy of the Duterte government to revive the cases of those detractors and activists against Marcos during the Martial Law regime? We want to be clarified,” she said.
Tan was arrested last Thursday night by virtue of 14 arrest warrants for multiple murder, frustrated murder and attempted murder issued by the Regional Trial Court of Tagbilaran, Bohol.
Sanchez said they also went to the military’s Central Command to look for Tan but they were referred to the provincial police who allegedly had custody of him.
Nicolo Tan, Rustico’s son, was worried about his father’s safety and health as the latter has diabetes and needs to take medicines.
“I was looking for my father because I had a training in Manila for work. Two persons were also picked up aside from my father,” he said.
Sanchez, Tan and members of the family wanted to talk to Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) Chief Supt. Joie Yape about Tan’s whereabouts yesterday but the officer was not around.
CPPO spokesman Supt. Virgilio Bayon-on faced them and told them that Tan was brought to Bohol last Sunday.
Tan is the alleged vice commanding officer of NPA’s Western Visayas operations command, which operates in Negros Island. Before his arrest, PIB received information about Tan’s presence from the Military Intelligence Group 7. / JOB