The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reminded the youth to listen carefully to the experiences of former rebels and supporters before deciding to join the dying communist rebel movement.
"While the leaders are feeling the brunt of the law enforcement, we call on those who are still being recruited and in the process of being deceived by sweet talking CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army) to ignore their messages and listen to those who have turned their backs and returned to mainstream society," AFP public affairs office chief, Col. Noel Detoyato, said in a message to the Philippine News Agency Tuesday.
The military official made the remark when asked on what the military can do to prevent the New People's Army (NPA) from conducting last ditch recruitment efforts among the youth.
"Their (former NPA rebels) bad experience and nightmares with the CPP-NPA coupled with the false promises must convince them (youth) not to give in. If there will be no fresh recruits, this menace of a group called CPP-NPA-NDF (National Democratic Front) will just be relegated into irrelevance and the remaining members will just probably die of old age. Slowly but surely, with every Filipino going in one direction, our objective of ending (CPP founding chair Jose Maria 'Joma') Sison's insurgency will progress towards ending his(Sison's) 50 years of deceits and lies," he added.
The AFP earlier said over 11,000 NPA fighters and supporters have surrendered since January 2018.
These numbers does not include the 600 rebels and sympathizers who have voluntarily surrendered in the first three months of 2019.
“They have realized that they have been deceived and have descended from their mountain hideouts to rejoin their families, avail of government benefits, and live normal lives,” AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said.
Government efforts to aid rebels and supporters who surrender are contained in the government's Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).
The E-CLIP, which was institutionalized by President Rodrigo R Duterte on April 3, 2018, provides a complete package of assistance and interventions to former communist rebels and their immediate families to prepare them for integration to mainstream society.
These include skills development training from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, PhilHealth enrollment, housing, livelihood and legal assistance, among others.
As this develops, Detoyato said rebel consultants, who will voluntarily surrender to authorities, will be treated with all the rights of an accused.
"That's the way to go for them. They have to respect the laws before they get respected themselves. They will be treated with all the rights of a person accused of a crime and avails of our legal processes," he added.
The safe conducts passes of the above-mentioned consultants are now deemed void after President Rodrigo Duterte's cancellation of the peace talks.
The CPP-NPA is listed as terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1065607
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