Rebels send surrender feelers: Aying

From the Visayan Daily Star (Sep 18): Rebels send surrender feelers: Aying

Col Jon Aying, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, yesterday said they have received surrender feelers from several members of the New People’s Army who also want to lay down their guns, after the recent encounter at the boundary of Sagay City and Toboso in northern Negros.

Military records show that the 89 rebels who surrendered to the 303rd Infantry Brigade since 2011, have availed of assistance from the provincial government of Negros Occidental, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process.

While he did not elaborate on the details of the surrender feelers they got, Aying said the two recent encounters believed to have caused the wounding of several rebels and even deaths of some, have stung the entire NPA organization in northern Negros.

In the successive encounters, two suspected rebels were captured, while nine high-powered firearms, including M-16, M14 and AK-47 assault rifles, as well as two .45 caliber pistols, left behind by fleeing rebels were recovered by the military and police, he added.

It was a major tactical and operational blunder on the part of the NPA, Aying claimed.

“ It heavily affected their will to fight and some of them have already expressed their desire to surrender through various contacts,” he also said.

There are reports that progressive organizations in Negros Occidental are slated to conduct a fact-finding mission in the hinterlands of Toboso and Sagay City, to probe alleged human rights violations committed by Army soldiers, who are now searching for hidden firearms in houses, without search warrants.


Aying said “ They (NPA) are now in a state of confusion and blaming each other for what had happened. They do not know how they were located by soldiers and policemen”.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2013/September/18/topstory3.htm