THREE communist insurgents have laid down their arms and returned to the folds of the law as they turned themselves in to the authorities in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon, on Thursday, November 8.

In a statement, the Philippine Army said the three members of the New People’s Army (NPA) identified as alias Dave, 22; Alias Darwin, 28; and Alias Aidel, 25, surrendered to the troops of the 8th Infantry Battalion.

The military said Dave surrendered his M79 grenade launcher rifle while the two members of the Milisyang Bayan yielded their sub-machine gun and magnum 22 with ammunition.

Authorities said the three were members of the NPA's Guerilla Front 4B.

Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Illana, 8IB commanding officer, said the surrender was a result of the army's community support program team deployments.

"People in our priority areas are now aware of the CPP-NPA's true intentions and that they do not want to take part of their failed armed struggle anymore," he said.

Illana said government soldiers were able to convince the Maoist guerillas including their supporters to abandon the armed struggle and embrace peace through the massive information dissemination campaign on the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) and the intensified collaboration of the different stakeholders including the local government units.

"We are expecting in the coming days that more of them will peacefully surrender," he added.