CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A ranking leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Mindanao was killed during a recent encounter between communist rebels and government troops in Bukidnon, the military said Tuesday, Jan. 25.
In a report that was circulated to the media Tuesday, the Army’s 16th Infantry Battalion (16IB) identified the fatalities as Pedro Codaste, also known as “Gonyong” or “Serv,” and a certain alias Zandro.
Codaste, along with the late Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos, were considered as top commanders of the NPA in Mindanao.
Madlos, who’s also the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) spokesperson for Mindanao, died in a firefight with state forces in Sitio Gabunan, Barangay Dumalaguing, Impasugong town, Bukidnon on Oct. 30, 2021.
It can be recalled that Codaste and Alfredo “Ka Paris” Mapano were released from prison in 2016 to join the revived peace negotiations between the Phil. government and communist rebels as NDFP consultants.
The following year, Pres. Rodrigo Duterte ordered for the arrest of Mapano and Codaste and several NDFP consultants as the peace talks were ordered terminated by the national government.
Lt. Col. Neil Armstrong Batayola, 16IB commander, said Codaste and his companion were killed during a 30-minute gunfight in Barangay Kalabugao, also in Impasugong on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022.
Batayola said police and soldiers responded to a call from concerned citizens in Kalabugao regarding “an armed group conducting atrocities in the area.”
He said the government forces exchange gunfire with at least 15 insurgents. Taken along with the bodies of those killed at the encounter site was an AK47 rifle and a .45 caliber pistol.
Bayatola said Codaste held a ranking posting in the NPA being deputy secretary of Komisyon Mindanao (KOMMID).
Brig. Gen. Oliver Vesliño, acting commander of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said Codaste’s death is a great loss to the NPA as he was considered to succeed the top leadership in Mindanao.
“Codaste was considered as the acting KOMMID Chairman after the death of Cabanatan alias Kuba, Madlos alias Ka Oris and Villanueva alias Ka Bok,” Vesliño said.
Codaste was a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines’ Central Committee and consultant of the NDFP.
He was also a former secretary general of the NPA’s Guerrilla Front 4A in Agusan del Sur during the early ‘90s then later became secretary of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee in 2009. He was elected to the Central Committee during the CPP 2nd Congress in 2016.
Codaste, Vesliño said, was facing multiple cases with warrants of arrest, calling him “one of the most wanted fugitives for the crime of murder, double frustrated murder and attempted murder.”
“We have once again delivered justice for our people. While we extend our sympathies to the families and friends of those killed, Codaste’s death is a tangible reminder that injustices that brought sufferings and numerous deaths will forever haunt us. A clearer manifestation of the people in rejecting the CPP-NPA-NDF. Remaining leaders and members still have the chance to avoid the same fate by availing the E-CLIP of the government and peacefully return to their families,” Vesliño added.
