Ranking female communist leader arrested in Quezon City

By Ronron
December 1, 2007

A ranking female leader of the communist movement in the Philippines was arrested last Wednesday in Quezon City, authorities said Saturday.

The arrested rebel was identified by Army chief Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano as Elizabeth Principe, 56, a regular member of the Central Committee and Secretary of the Cagayan Valley Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Yano said Principe, who uses 15 aliases, was nabbed at around 12:30 pm last November 28 at the vicinity of Alimall along P. Tuazon St., in Cubao District by combined elements of the Philippine Army’s Intelligence and Security Group and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-National Capital Region.

Yano said the arrest was made by virtue of six arrest warrants issued against Principe by different courts in Region 2 for the crimes of rebellion (Isabela court), kidnapping with double murder (Isabela court), robbery with murder (Nueva Vizcaya courts), and robbery with arson (Nueva Vizcaya court).

But the CPP said in a statement yesterday that Principe is a peace consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, thus she should be immune from arrest by Philippine authorities.

Quoting NDF chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni, CPP spokesperson Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal said Principe is covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) that provides for the free and unhindered passage and travel of negotiators, consultants and other personnel of both peace panels and protects them from surveillance, harassment, searches, arrest, detention, prosecution, interrogation, and other similar action.

“Principe’s abduction is the latest in a string of abductions of peace consultants and personnel of the NDF being carried out by the fascist AFP. The Arroyo regime has once again exhibited outright contempt for human rights and wanton disregard for peace agreements,” Rosal said.

Maintaining legality, however, for the arrest of Principe, Yano described it as “a big blow to the communist terrorists that will further derail their terrorist plans.”

Principe is reportedly in Metro Manila to seek medical help.

Yano said Principe started her involvement with the CPP when she was still a student at the University of the Philippines in 1979. She went on to become one of the first cadres of the regional medical staff of the CPP’s first Regional Party Committee established in Northern Luzon, until she was elected as a regular member of the Central Committee in the 9th Plenum in 1985.

Principe was also married twice, both to two ranking leaders of the movement after the first died.

The Arroyo government has vowed to crush the insurgency movement, whose armed component is estimated to have a strength now of over 6,000, by 2010.

Peace talks between the government and the CPP bogged down in August 2004 after the latter protested over their tagging as a terrorist group by the US and European Union governments./DMS