THE police are studying the possibility of filing criminal charges against party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna after a suspected member of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) who was wanted for murder was arrested in his company in Ormoc City Monday night.

The suspected NPA rebel identified as Vincent “Bebot” Borja, 36, of barangay Linao, Ormoc City, was arrested by soldiers and policemen in the company of Casiño in the house of a supporter also in barangay Linao, Ormoc City, at around 9 p.m.

Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, chief of the Armed Forces public information office, said Borja, a suspected member of the Eastern Visayas Regional Front Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was arrested on strength of a warrant of arrest issued by the Regional Trial Court in Leyte for murder.

During the time of the arrest, Casiño, Borja and other supporters were having a campaign staff meeting.

The military said Borja’s group was tasked with securing financial and logistics support  for the NPA in Eastern Visayas.

The military also denied earlier reports that Casiño was also arrested, saying that the lawmaker refused to leave Borja when he was taken to military headquarters.

“He [Casiño] was not arrested. There is no warrant for his arrest . . . the arrest created a chain of events including the disarming of his bodyguards,” said Maj. Ernesto Torres, Army spokesman.

Chief Supt. Eliseo de la Paz, Eastern Visayas police commander, said in a separate interview with BusinessMirror  that his command’s legal staff is studying the possibility of filing charges of harboring a fugitive and obstruction of justice against Casiño.

Leftist party-list congressmen condemned the arrest of Borja, which disrupted Casiño’s campaign staff meeting.

Malacañang on the other hand expressed hope that the opposition would not exploit the apprehension of an alleged NPA hitman who happened to be with Casiño at the time of the arrest.

Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio said that the incident was a “purely police matter” and that Casiño was not the subject of the arrest warrant against Borja.

Claudio said he believed that “the presence of Representative Casiño can be appropriately explained and clarified.”

National Security adviser Norberto Gonzales said that Casiño would have a lot of explaining to do, given the fact that he was with an NPA hitman.

Casiño said in a statement:   “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the brazen Gestapo-like arrest of [Borja], who was arrested by soldiers right in front of me at around 8 p.m. [Monday night] as we were preparing to attend a campaign sortie in Ormoc City.”    

“This is clear intimidation meant to terrorize me, the campaigners and voters.”

Party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis joined Casiño in condemning the military’s latest attempt to terrorize the mainstream leftist movement.

Mariano said Borja is Anakpawis’s Eastern Visayas campaign officer. 

--With M. Gonzalez and J. Cadacio

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THE police are studying the possibility of filing criminal charges against party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna after a suspected member of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) who was wanted for murder was arrested in his company in Ormoc City Monday night.