Lady rebel surrenders to AFP in Kalinga, guns seized

From the Philippine News Agency (May 22): Lady rebel surrenders to AFP in Kalinga, guns seized

A female member of the New Peoples Army voluntarily surrendered to the 50th Infantry Battalion at their Headquarters in Barangay Camalog, Pinukpuk, Kalinga over the weekend, Lt. Colonel Gulliver Siñeres said on Monday.

Siñeres said Liza Tongdo Gumabay, also known as “Raida”, 32 years old, and the party wife of the late communist terrorist leader Ruben Gumabay, also known as “Rashid” of the Kilusang Larangan Guerilla (KLG) Baggas, a local communist terrorist group operating in the province of Kalinga, surrendered to the government on May 21.

Siñeres assured that the government will provide her the assistance under the comprehensive local integration program (CLIP). The said surenderer is still at 50IB headquarters for documentation.

A total of 30 NPA members have surrendered to the 5th ID, majority of which are from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

In a statement released on Monday, Major General Paul Atal, 5ID Commander said “the influx of surrenderers from the communist terrorist group is a clear manifestation that our message of peace is already penetrating the core of their twisted belief and doctrine that is misleading some of the Filipinos living in the hinterlands of Cagayan Valley and Cordillera.” Atal said.

He also urged the other rebels “to lay down their arms and abandon their unworthy arms struggle against the government. Instead, they should actively participate in the political arena and help transform our country to what they think is good for the people. Let us settle our differences in a peaceful way. We are all Filipinos.”

Meanwhile the 50ID also discovered war materiels in Sitio Anyang, Barangay Wagud, Pinukpuk, Kalinga on May 20.

The M16 Rifle, a barrel and a short magazine, together with five meter electrical wire were discovered by the soldiers while doing security patrol. It can be recalled that in April, the troops also discovered war materiel inside a drum at Barangay Apatan in Pinukpuk town.

Siñeres said the war materiel are believed to be buried by a rebel who attended the burial of late Rudy Miguel, one of the communist terrorists who died during an encounter with the 50IB in May 13 in Balbalan, Kalinga. Miguel’s body was brought to his family in Pinukpuk town.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/989912