Central Philippine top leftist rebel leader arrested

A top New People's Army (NPA) leader, who led the rebel movement in central Philippines, and his wife were arrested in Mandaue city in Cebu by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police (PNP) late Friday, the military announced on Sunday. Calixto Vistal, or alias Cocoy in the NPA who led the armed struggle in the provinces of Leyte, Bohol and Negros, wasarrested by virtue of an arrest warrant for murder. His legal wife, Jimmyliza Badayos, was arrested for illegal possession of firearms and explosives. "The long arm of the law has finally fell upon them. Cocoy is certainly not able to go back to the provinces of Leyte and Bohol. Their presence in Cebu was also not for them with insurgency in these provinces. It is a thing of the past", said Jose Mabanta Jr., 3rd Infantry Division Commander, in a statement released to the media on Sunday. Military records show that Vistal, who formerly led a major armed group in Bohol island, currently leads the major regional armed group in southeastern Negros island while Badayos was the former technical committee head of the same Negros group. Both are now detained at the Cebu Police office. Vistal, according to military records, was involved in several violent actions in Bohol, Leyte and Negros islands including the raid of two PNP camps in Bohol in 1999. He was also reportedly involved in an encounter against Special Forces soldiers in 2000. The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was formed on March 29, 1969. Latest military estimates placed the NPA's strength at more than 4,000.