News Update UP student who admitted to being NPA rebel sent home — Army

The military on Wednesday sent home a University of the Philippines (UP) student who was intercepted in Davao Oriental and who later confessed to being a communist rebel, a military spokesperson said. Lt. Col. Medel Aguilar, spokesperson of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said 20-year-old Dania Reyes, a literature student from UP Diliman and a Kabataan party-list member, was taken into military custody after she was intercepted at a checkpoint in Tarragona town. Reyes was riding a motorcycle with two other unidentified companions when she was intercepted by soldiers in the area. The driver of the motorcycle was interrogated after he could not present registration papers, according to Aguilar. The UP student admitted to being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) rebel during the interrogation and expressed her desire to go home, he added. “She just admitted that she is an NPA and that she wants to go home," Aguilar said. GMANews.TV tried to contact officials of the Kabataan party-list, including Rep. Raymond Palatino, for their comment, but they were not answering the calls. Aguilar likewise said the military neither arrested nor detained Reyes in deference to the existing ceasefire with the NPA, and clarified that the UP student “did not renounce her membership" with the group. “We don’t consider her as a surrenderee. She remains to be an NPA… That will be her decision if she goes back to the other side. But as far as we are concerned, she should not," he said. Tarragona town officials led by Mayor Samuel Uy facilitated Reyes’ flight back to Manila on Wednesday morning for her to reunite with her family in Laguna, he added. The Philippine military and the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), are currently observing a 19-day truce for the Christmas season. The ceasefire, which started Dec. 16 and will last until Jan. 3, is the longest truce observed by both parties in 10 years and is considered as a confidence-building measure preparatory for the resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the communist-led National Democratic Front (NDF) in February next year. - KBK