NATIONAL Security Adviser Eduardo M. Año, commended the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on the arrest of the “last communist leader at large” in Quezon City last October 24, 2024 who is serving as the chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) for the last two years.
In a statement sent to Pinoy Exposé, the bemedaled former AFP chief said the arrest of Wigberto Villarico, aka, ‘Baylon,’ is a major step in the government’s effort to dismantle the top-tier leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) “and bring lasting peace to our country.”
He said Villarico, also the concurrent secretary of the Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee (STRPC) and member of the party’s ‘Political Bureau’ (Politburo), assumed the top CPP post after the death in August 2022 of Benito Tiamzon, along with his wife, Wilma, CPP secretary, during an encounter in Samar province.
In a separate statement, ‘Joint Task Force (JTF) Katagalugan’ commander, BGen. Cerilo Balaoro, Jr., 2nd Infantry Division, Philippine Army, said that among other serious crimes, Villarico is wanted for kidnapping with murder involving two victims from the local court in Mauban, Quezon. The incident happened in Bgy. Cagsiay in 2007.
Villarico’s arrest was a result of the successful coordination between the 2ND Infantry Division, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
“The case was originally filed at RTC Branch 64 in Quezon but was transferred to Taguig City RTC Branch 266, which certified the validity of the issued warrant of arrest,” clarified NCRPO director, PMGen. Sidney Hernia.
He added that Villarico’s companion, Mary Joy Lizada, 35, was also arrested for obstruction of justice for providing false identification of Villarico. Both are now detained at the Southern Police District (SPD) Police Office.
Villarico, according to his dossier, is also known in several aliases as ‘Benjamin Mendoza,’ ‘Juventud Del Fiero,’ ‘Alejandro Montalban,’ ‘Laurence,’ ‘Joven,’ ‘Mark,’ ‘Cris,’ ‘Baylon,’ and ‘Baler.’
“Villarico has been violating human rights, international humanitarian law, and various laws of the land as he was responsible for the series of atrocities against government forces, the killing and liquidation of some prominent personalities, terrorist attacks on innocent communities, sabotaging government projects, and various extortion and money-making activities in Southern Tagalog,” Balaoro said.
Año described Villarico as “the last Communist leader at large capable of commanding both the party and its armed wing, the New People’s Army.”
“Villarico’s capture closes the chapter on a terrorist fugitive responsible for numerous atrocities against the people,” the NSC chief said.
Año, who spent a better part of his career as Army officer in Southern Tagalog, also blamed Villarico for the death of hundreds of CPP members and fighters of the New People’s Army during the bloody purges that plagued the STRPC from the middle ‘80s to the early ‘90s.
He said many of the victims “were executed by his (Villarico’s) own hands.”
JASIG ‘as good as dead,’ NSC reminds Reds
NSC spokesperson, Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya, in a separate statement, debunked the CPP’s claim that Villarico should be immediately freed as he is “immune from arrest” as a ‘peace consultant’ of the ‘National Democratic Front’ (NDF).
“We find as funny and preposterous the claim of the CPP – NPA (New People’s Army) – NDF that CPP Chairman Baylon Villarico is a ‘peace consultant’ and is therefore immune from arrest under the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantee (JASIG) signed way back during the Fidel Ramos administration,” Malaya said in a statement on October 26.
In a statement after Villarico’s arrest, Marco Valbuena, CPP spokesperson, insisted on his being a peace consultant and immune from arrest under the JASIG that was signed by the NDF and the government in February 1995.
Valbuena skirted the fact that in 2017, the government formally terminated any further peace negotiation with the CPP and negated all the previously signed agreements including the JASIG.
Malaya also noted that the ‘Joint Oslo Communique’ signed by the Marcos administration and the NDF in November 2023 to resolve the roots of the armed conflict and end the CPP’s armed struggle “did not resurrect the JASIG.”
“The JASIG is as good as dead,” Malaya stressed.