Three suspected members of a communist rebel group wanted for the 2010 murder of a public school teacher were arrested during a three-day manhunt in Masbate province, police said.

The suspects, identified as alias “Abe,” alias “Rex” and alias “Noy,” were apprehended between 12 and 14 May by joint police and military teams led by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

All three are residents of Barangay Malibas in Palanas town and are listed as high-value targets on regional and provincial most-wanted lists.

According to authorities, the men are members of the New People’s Army operating under the Bicol Regional Party Committee. They were arrested on outstanding murder warrants issued by a Masbate court on 20 November 2025, with no bail recommended.

The arrests stemmed from a 9 July 2010, incident in Palanas, where the suspects and two unidentified accomplices allegedly shot and killed a 27-year-old public school teacher who was walking home.

The successive operations began on 12 May when authorities arrested Abe in Cataingan town, where he was listed as the No. 8 most wanted person in Masbate province. The following day, police captured Rex in Cataingan, who is ranked as the No. 3 most wanted person in the Bicol region.

The manhunt concluded on 14 May with the apprehension of Noy in Palanas, who is listed as the region’s No. 4 most wanted person.

Police officials commended the operatives and reiterated the government’s stance against armed insurgents, noting that the killing of an educator is an attack against the community itself.

They stressed that the suspects evaded justice for over a decade but will now face accountability, adding that there is no room for terrorism or armed criminality in society.

The suspects remain in police custody pending court proceedings.