Vic Ladlad's arrest not due to NDFP links —police

The arrests of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant Vicente Ladlad and two others were for illegal possession of firearms and not due to their affiliation with the communists, ranking police officials said Thursday.

At a press briefing, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said Ladlad and the others could not hide behind the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantee (JASIG) "because they violated the law."

"What they did is in clear violation of the law. They cannot hide behind the JASIG or any similar agreements because they violated the law, plain and simple. Illegal possession of loose firearms," Albayalde said.

The JASIG, which was signed by the government and the NDFP in February 1995, guarantees safety and immunity to negotiators, consultants, and other personnel joining the peace talks.

Albayalde was reacting to the accusation of Ladlad's wife, Fidess, who accused the police of planting evidence against her husband and preventing her from seeing him.

Ladlad and two others, Alberto and Virginia Villamor, were arrested on Thursday dawn by combined operatives of the police and military in San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City.

The police said they seized M-16 and AK-74 rifles, hand grenades and other subservient documents from the three.

Quezon City Police District head Chief Superintendent Jose Esquivel said the operation to arrest Ladlad was purely "law enforcement."

"It just do happened that Vicente Ladlad is a member of the NDF. This has no political color. We arrested them for a crime, and possession of these firearms could be used in furtherance of violence," he said.

Esquivel said there are no firearms registered to the three suspects prior to their arrest.

"One hand grenade alone can kill several people as far as five meters. We are enforcing the law without fear or favor, with no political color," he said.

At Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City on Thursday, November 8, 2018, PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde and NCRPO chief Director Guillermo Eleazar inspect the high powered firearms allegedly seized from National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant Vicente Ladlad, Alberto and Virginia Villamor during a raid at Lot 16-A Block 3 Saint Mark corner Saint Joseph Sts., Dona Tomasa, Bgry. San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City on Wednesday night. Danny Pata

National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Guillermo Eleazar, for his part, dismissed allegations that the evidence against Ladlad and company were planted.

"This is the usual excuse. But we have secured the search warrant from a competent court. That search warrant won't be issued if our evidence against them were not enough," Eleazar said.

Eleazar also said that Mrs. Ladlad will be allowed to see her husband after proper documentation of Ladlad and two other suspects.

Ladlad and the Villamors are in detention in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

Albayalde, meanwhile, denied that the arrest of Ladlad was a "gift" to him since it happened on his birthday.

"It was just a coincidence," Albayalde said. "Wala pong pansalubong." —KBK, GMA News