Saturday, August 25, 2007 21 Agusan surrenderees are paramilitary: NPA By Carlo P. Mallo
THE New People's Army (NPA) chided the military for making a fool of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte when they brought to the mayor 21 alleged members of the NPA, when these 21 are, in fact, paramilitary men under the military's command.
The 1001st Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines has not accomplished anything that it had to create a "fake surrender," the NPA said in a statement.
"It was all a lie," the group added.
The 21 were presented to Duterte last week as new surrenderees.
But the NPA contended that the group was not members of the insurgency movement but were actually members of the so-called Mindanao Manobo Defense Force (MMDF).
The group, an armed lumad paramilitary group, was formed by brothers William and Jimmy Man-anohog.
The statement further revealed that the firearms surrendered by the "rebel returnees" were mere props provided by the 1001st Brigade.
"Misrepresenting civilians as NPAs is a worse and worn-out propaganda trick but misrepresenting criminals and bandits as NPAs at the expense of the public, the media, and even Davao City Mayor Duterte is worst," the NPA said in conclusion.
