A TOTAL of 15 suspected members of the New People's Army (NPA) and 11 militiamen surrendered to authorities, signifying the "NPA's loose of support and manpower," the military said.
The 15 NPA personalities are composed of two NPA regulars identified as alias Tapul and alias James of the group in North Eastern Mindanao, two members of the Sangay ng Partido sa Localidad (SPL), and 11 Militia ng Bayan members.
All of them surrendered to 75th Infantry Battalion in Bislig, Surigao del Sur over the weekend.
The surenderers brought with them 29 assorted firearms and war material, which include four CZ858 rifles, one M16A1 rifle, one M14 rifle, two AK47 rifles, four caliber .45 pistols, two caliber .38 revolver pistols, caliber .30 (improvised), three caliber .22, and 11 improvised shotguns.
They also turned over assorted materials used for manufacturing improvised explosive devices (IED) such as blasting caps and electrical wires.
In January 2019 alone, 300 NPA regular members, 271 militia and 37 members of the SPL have surrendered.
Since January 1 to January 16 this year, there are 300 NPA regular members, 271 Militia ng Bayan, and 37 members of the SPL who already surrendered to different units under Eastmincom.
On top of it are 867 Ugmo members who dissociated from the rebel group.
These surrenderers brought along with them 265 firearms of assorted caliber.
Lieutenant General Felimon Santos Jr., commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command, directed all military units to support local government units in the delivery of basic services to communities to make NPA irrelevant.
"Let us continue to make the CNTG (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army Terrorist Group) irrelevant by supporting the different local government units and National Government agencies in their effort to sustain peace gains by pushing and bringing the government in the remaining conflict-affected and vulnerable areas inorder to resolve the issues and address the concerns being exploited by the CNTG," Santos said. (PJ Orias)