The New PeopleÂ’s Army (NPA) has released a captive police officer Wednesday afternoon in Arakan town. Maula Tato Ali was turned over to the peace advocacy group Sowing the Seeds of Peace in Mindanao and later brought to the BishopÂ’s Palace in Kidapawan City for a press conference.Ali was seized at a checkpoint last April 19 in President Roxas town.
In a statement, the National Democratic Front-Southern Mindanao had accepted a recommendation for Ali’s release, citing the result of the investigation which found him not guilty in the cover-up or obstruction of justice in the case of Father Fausto ‘Pops’ Tentorio, an Italian priest who was gunned down in October 2011 in Arakan town.
According to the NDF, Ali didn’t commit “significant offenses” against the people and the “revolutionary forces.”