Authorities arrest high-ranking Communist

By Vince Lopez

THE Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrested a highranking leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s ArmyNational Democratic Front (CPP-NPANDF) in Isabela.

In a statement Wednesday, CIDG director Police MGen. Romeo Caramat Jr. said the suspect Romeo Cudal, 66, alias “Ramon Daniel Luis /Ka Mon/Ka Paoy/ Ka Nick/Ka Rito/Ka Noni,” was arrested in Barangay Andres Bonifacio, Diffun, Quirino province on July 16.

Cudal is wanted by the Ilagan City, Isabela Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 18 for kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges issued in March 2018.

The suspect has also a bounty of

PHP750,000 under joint orders from the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of National Defense.

“The accused Cudal is included in the CIDG’s priority target list as Top 4 wanted person who belongs to the CPPNPA’s Komiteng Probinsiya Isabela (Isabela Provincial Committee), Komiteng Rehiyon Cagayan Valley(Cagayan Valley Regional Committee) and Top 10 in KLG-QNV/RSDG, KR-CV command.

We also learned that he was designated as the finance/economic officer of the Central Front and Secretary of SPP-GANI, Southern Front,” Caramat said. Pending the return of the warrant to the issuing court, the accused remains in the custody of the Diffun Municipal Police Station in the province of Quirino.

Moreover, the shift to a parliamentary government received a 37% approval rating, while the establishment of a federal government had the approval rate of 43%. Mindanao voters support the transition to a federal government at 51%.

COVID-19-related policies also garnered significant attention. The revival of the mandatory facemask policy in all public spaces received a 44% approval rating, while the government mandate to complete two booster shots against COVID-19 had a slightly higher approval rating of 48%.

Notably, NCR voters expressed heightened concern regarding COVID-19, with 55% approving of the mandatory facemask policy and 62% in favor of

Party leader in Isabela

the government’s mandate for two booster shots.

The proposed new curriculum, which allows students the option to enroll in two additional years of pre-university education to better prepare for college, obtained a 45% approval rating.

The importation of agricultural products to alleviate soaring retail prices also received a 45% approval rating. In both cases, Visayas exhibited higher approval rates, with 53% and 54% respectively, along with high income households expressing approval rates of 51%.

The PAHAYAG 2023 Second Quarter Survey (PQ2) is an independent and non- commissioned survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia Inc. between 7-12 June 2023. It is a nationwide purposive survey with 1,500 respondents randomly drawn from a market research panel of over 200,000 Filipinos maintained by PureSpectrum, a US-based panel marketplace with a multinational presence with respondents, and distributed across five geographical areas: National Capital Region (NCR), North Central Luzon (NCL), South Luzon (SL), Visayas (Vis), and Mindanao (Min). Only registered Filipino voters were included in the sample, ensuring that the results accurately represent the sentiments of the voting population.