Female ‘NPA leader’ nabbed
ILOILO CITY — A 61-yearold woman, tagged as the alleged leader of the New People's Army's Komiteng Rehiyon-Panay, was arrested Friday morning (June 8) at Molo district in Iloilo City.
Police caught Maria Teresa Cabales, who also goes by aliases "Teray" and "Sandy," as she was crossing the street at Tanza-Timawa village. She is the wife of Roberto Cabales, leader of the KR-P’s Central Front Committee.
Operatives of the Regional Crime Investigation and Detection Unit-6, the Regional Intelligence Division, and the Philippine Army Intelligence Security Group, were about to serve an arrest warrant against Teresa for rebellion charge (docketed as Criminal Case No. C-171857-09), issued by Judge Judith Orendain-Tonogbanua of the Regional Trial Court-Branch 20 in Mambusao, Capiz on October 12, 2017.
Teresa was charged along with Reynaldo Bocala, Ronie Cañon, and Rogina Oillop for allegedly engaging in a fire fight against government forces at Sitio Agbalante in Barangay Tacayan of Tapaz, Capiz on February 7, 2017.
The encounter claimed the life of Corporal Ricky Bill Fariñas, who died in a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED), and wounded Staff Sergeant William Vidal Jr. and Private First Class Donald Lisbo.
Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao, Police Regional Office-6 director, presented Cabales in a press conference Friday at the PRO6 headquarters in Camp Martin Delgado, Iloilo City.
Bulalacao said the arrested Cabales is a member of KR-P's Regional Medical Staff, which is in charge of medical training and support of the region and different front committees under KR-P.
He added that Teresa was a former leader, in the early 1980s, of Catholic Youth group that became an organization of the Basic Christian Community in Negros Occidental. "Her arrest has caused a big dent for the party committee and their overall activities since she is holding a sensitive position being a medical staff," Bulalacao said.
Teresa allegedly provides medical and financial support to the KR-P members who are hospitalized. Given her age, she could be with the communist movement for several years already, said Bulalacao. While she could post bail for her rebellion case, there might be other pending cases against her, to include murder, said the PRO-6 top official.
While Bulalacao was reading on with the press statement relative to her arrest, Teresa was seen repeatedly shaking her head. Later, she denied any accusations against her.
She declared: "I'm a member of a community-based non-government organization," and that she is affiliated with the Regional ACT Union, but without elaborating if, by ACT, she meant the Alliance of Concerned Teachers party-list.
When asked why should she be implicated in a rebellion case, she claimed that only the police knew, and later said it could be because of her husband Roberto. She also insisted she did not even know she had a pending case in court. "I am frequently seen at the downtown area (of Iloilo City). I transact legally," she said.
"That's the truth. But whatever it is, I will face the cases against me," she added. While she was in police custody inside Camp Delgado, another group staged a protest outside the PRO-6 headquarters' to demand for Teresa Cabales' release.