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CPP denies rescue try for detained NPA leader


The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on Thursday denied an attempt to rescue ranking New People’s Army commander Tirso “Ka Bart" Alcantara from an Army facility. The CPP laughed off as a “crude and lunatic concoction" the military’s claim that one Romulo Luna tried to sneak into Army headquarters to spring Alcantara, who was arrested last Jan. 4 in Tarlac City. “There was no such attempt to rescue Ka Bart from detention. The Luna tale is obviously a crude and lunatic concoction by the military to impugn the legitimate demand of the [National Democratic Front] to have Ka Bart immediately released and cover up the continuing violations of his rights as a consultant of the NDF for the peace talks," the group said in a statement posted on its website. Luna, allegedly a security escort of Alcantara, was arrested Tuesday night after he supposedly tried to sneak into the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. The Army said he was armed with a hand grenade. The Army has since tightened security at its headquarters. Meanwhile, the CPP scored the rush with which the military tried to arraign Alcantara Wednesday. It said Alcantara was rushed to the Lucena Regional Trial Court Branch 59 for an instant arraignment, “in violation of his legal rights, as neither he nor his lawyers were informed of the schedule." Executive Judge Eloida de Leon-Diaz reportedly postponed the arraignment to March 1 after Alcantara refused the services of a court-appointed lawyer. Alcantara’s release is among the conditions being set by the NDF for the resumption of peace negotiations with the government, which is expected next month in Oslo, Norway. The NDF is the political wing of the CPP, while the NPA is th CPP's armed wing. - KBK, GMANews.TV

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