STARTING A NEW LIFE. The NPA couple, alias Koko and Kenny, who surrendered to the Army's 8th Infantry Battalion in the Bukidnon town of Impasug-ong. (Photo courtesy of 8IB-4ID)
A couple who joined the communist New People’s Army (NPA) as child soldiers surrendered in the Bukidnon town of Impasug-ong Wednesday, the military said.
The Army's 8th Infantry Battalion (8IB) said the couple, only identified as Koko and Kenny, joined the communist rebel movement when they were 17 and 15 years, respectively.
Koko is now 22 years old, and Kenny, 19, is pregnant with the couple's first child.
The 8IB said Koko and Kenny are the 6th NPA couple to yield since 2018.
"The said couple warriors got married while they were in the NPA group of the Regional Sentro De Grabidad Compaq, North Central Mindanao Regional Command (RSDG Compaq,NCMRC)," the 8IB statement said.
"They got a chance and escaped from the NPA and immediately surrendered themselves to this Army unit bringing a .45-caliber pistol loaded with bullets," it added.
Based on the military debriefing of the couple following their surrender, the NPA exploited the couple's young age to force them to stay in the rebel movement.
It got to a point, the military said, that the commander of the couple's NPA unit convinced them to marry in an apparent attempt to keep them together in the movement.
Koko was quoted as saying that the chance to flee the NPA came when they were granted permission to come down from the mountains for the prenatal checkup of Kenny, who is four months pregnant.
"We immediately left and ran to 8IB,” Koko said, referring to 8IB headquarters in Impasug-ong town.
“Now that I am in the right age, I realized that we are not secured there due to non-stop military operation of the Army. I don’t want to die there," Koko was quoted as saying.
According to the couple, the NPA in Bukidnon was "in disarray" after losing the support of villagers.
"We are isolated in the hinterlands, which make it hard for us to find our food and seek medical help," the former rebel said in the dialect.
Lt. Col. Ronald Illana, 8iB commanding officer, said the Army will help the couple "file cases against the NPA personalities who forcibly recruited them. They joined the group at a very young age and that’s a violation of their rights.”
“To the remaining members of the NPA groups in Bukidnon, we are calling for your surrender and abandon the lost cause of the CPP-NPA-NDF," Illana added, referring to the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front.
Illana said the couple will be assisted by 8IB and the local government of Impasugong for Kenny's prenatal checkups, as well as in the enrolment to the government's Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1074534
The Army's 8th Infantry Battalion (8IB) said the couple, only identified as Koko and Kenny, joined the communist rebel movement when they were 17 and 15 years, respectively.
Koko is now 22 years old, and Kenny, 19, is pregnant with the couple's first child.
The 8IB said Koko and Kenny are the 6th NPA couple to yield since 2018.
"The said couple warriors got married while they were in the NPA group of the Regional Sentro De Grabidad Compaq, North Central Mindanao Regional Command (RSDG Compaq,NCMRC)," the 8IB statement said.
"They got a chance and escaped from the NPA and immediately surrendered themselves to this Army unit bringing a .45-caliber pistol loaded with bullets," it added.
Based on the military debriefing of the couple following their surrender, the NPA exploited the couple's young age to force them to stay in the rebel movement.
It got to a point, the military said, that the commander of the couple's NPA unit convinced them to marry in an apparent attempt to keep them together in the movement.
Koko was quoted as saying that the chance to flee the NPA came when they were granted permission to come down from the mountains for the prenatal checkup of Kenny, who is four months pregnant.
"We immediately left and ran to 8IB,” Koko said, referring to 8IB headquarters in Impasug-ong town.
“Now that I am in the right age, I realized that we are not secured there due to non-stop military operation of the Army. I don’t want to die there," Koko was quoted as saying.
According to the couple, the NPA in Bukidnon was "in disarray" after losing the support of villagers.
"We are isolated in the hinterlands, which make it hard for us to find our food and seek medical help," the former rebel said in the dialect.
Lt. Col. Ronald Illana, 8iB commanding officer, said the Army will help the couple "file cases against the NPA personalities who forcibly recruited them. They joined the group at a very young age and that’s a violation of their rights.”
“To the remaining members of the NPA groups in Bukidnon, we are calling for your surrender and abandon the lost cause of the CPP-NPA-NDF," Illana added, referring to the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front.
Illana said the couple will be assisted by 8IB and the local government of Impasugong for Kenny's prenatal checkups, as well as in the enrolment to the government's Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1074534
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