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KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/30 September) – An alleged ranking leader of the New Peoples’ Army (NPA) said to be operating in North Cotabato was arrested in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur on Saturday, police said.
The arrest of Rachel Daguman Cortez, also known as Commander Jazmin or Yate or Raya, was confirmed by Col. Maximo Layugan, provincial director of the Cotabato Police Provincial Office.
Her arrest came after a tip from sources in the community where her presence was monitored, police said.
Jazmin was apprehended by members of a task force led by the Intelligence Security Unit of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency national headquarters, police operatives and some civilian intelligence agents.
Layugan said Jazmin would be brought to North Cotabato to face multiple murder cases and other charges related to her alleged involvement in the communist-led insurgency.
Jazmin is the alleged commander of NPA Front 51 whose operations cover the towns of President Roxas, Antipas, Arakan and Magpet, and Kidapawan City in North Cotabato.
She married a certain Commander Benjie Pahak who was killed in an Army raid in 2005 in Barangay Kisante, Makilala, Cotabato. (Malu Cadeliña-Manar/MindaNews)