FALSE promises of the armed struggle and hunger.
These were the reasons why 16 communist New People’s Army (NPA) terrorists including four high-ranking officers surrendered in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental on Tuesday, September 20, an army official said.
Brigadier General Innocencio Pasaporte, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade, said yesterday, September 21, that among those who surrendered was a political instructor, a medical officer, a vice platoon leader and their platoon commanding officer identified as “Ka Jimbo.
Military records showed that they are all members of the Central Negros 1, Komiteng Rehiyon-Negros, Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor (KR-NCBS) that also operates in the towns of Isabela and Moises Padilla in Negros Occidental.
It added that the rebel returnees are under the Leonardo Panaligan Command, who surrendered to the local Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (Elcac) in coordination with the 62nd Infantry (Unifier) Battalion of the Philippine Army and the Guihulngan City Police Station as well as the 61st Special Action Companies and 6th Special Action Battalion of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Pasaporte noted that the surrenderers claimed that they experienced the most difficult things in the mountains, especially amid the intensified operations of the military.
“They were also told that if they returned to the government fold, the military would kill them,” he said, adding that many of them already miss their families.
Pasaporte added that they will likewise check when these former rebels started to join the armed struggle as some of them might have been recruited while they were still minors.
“Now, that they have already returned to the government fold, the PNP and the army will jointly certify them as rebel returnees will be enrolled in the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program so they could avail various benefits and financial aids,” the army official stressed.
During the program for former rebels’ surrender at the covered court of Guihulngan City on Tuesday, Mayor Filomeno Reye gave initial assistance in the form of livestock animals and financial aid.
But some of them have already decided that they will no longer go back to their place anymore and will transfer somewhere safe instead, Pasaporte said.
Pasaporte told the former rebels that they made the right decision as he expressed hopes that they will convince their former companions to surrender as well.
To cap the surrender ceremony of the rebels, the flags of the NPA were burnt to signify that they already denounce the wrong idealism of the terrorist group.
White doves were also released to symbolize peace, unity, and freedom from any terroristic threats.
In March this year, nine former rebels also surrendered to the 62nd Infantry Brigade headed by Lieutenant Col William Pesase Jr.*