5 NPAs yield to Army in Cagayan

From the Manila Bulletin (Mar 1): 5 NPAs yield to Army in Cagayan

Five suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels yielded to the joint operatives of the Philippine Army and police in Barangay Masin, Alcala, Cagayan.

Lieutenant Colonel Camilo Saddam, commander of the army’s 17th Infantry Battalion, said the NPA rebel-surrenderers were among the personalities identified in photos with other NPA rebels while undergoing training in Zinundungan Valley in 2014.

Saddam said village officials of Barangay Bural, Rizal, Cagayan led by Barangay Captain Evelyn Baloran and Vice Mayor Joel A. Ruma of Rizal facilitated the surrender of the five rebels.

Captain Jefferson M. Somera, spokesperson of the army’s 5th Infantry Division, said the names of the surrenderers have been withheld for security reasons.

Somera said the five belonged to the NPA’s “Militia ng Bayan” deployed in the different barangays in Cagayan.

Meanwhile, Brigadier General Perfecto M. Rimando Jr., commander of the army’s 5th Infantry Division, commended the units of the army, the police and the local officials for the recent series of surrenders by NPA rebels in the province.

“The credit goes to the Local Government Officials who facilitated and assisted their constituents to return to the folds of the law. We need to convince these NPA rebels to denounce their support to the terrorist group because we knew that when they undergo training, they pledged to support the terrorist groups,” Rimando said.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/03/01/5-npas-yield-to-army-in-cagayan/