Friday, August 9, 2019

4 NPA rebs yield, lead Army to arms cache in Zambo Sibugay

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 9, 2019): 4 NPA rebs yield, lead Army to arms cache in Zambo Sibugay


NPA SURRENDERERS. Lt. Col. Don Templonuevo, Army's 44th Infantry Battalion commander, receives a rifle from female fighter of the New People's Army (NPA) rebels who surrendered in Titay, Zamboanga Sibugay on Thursday (Aug. 8, 2019). (Photo courtesy of 1st Infantry Division PAO)

Four New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas surrendered to the military and led the military to an arms cache and explosives in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay, officials said Friday.

Lt. Col. Don Templonuevo, Army’s 44th Infantry Battalion commander, said
two of the surrenderers were women, one of whom was a team leader and the other, a medic.
Templonuevo said the four surrendered Thursday to 44IB personnel in the municipality of Titay.

Templonuevo said they recovered an M-14, AK-47, and Carbine rifles and a caliber .38 revolver after the four NPA surrenderers led the military to its location.

He said the NPA surrenderers also yielded two improvised bombs fashioned as a landmine, three cellular phones, ammunition and subversive documents with high intelligence value.


“Based on our initial debriefing, they’ve heard that their surrendered comrades felt the sincerity of the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) intended for the former rebels,” he said.

“The four connived, find ways to escape from the group (NPA), and surrendered to our troops,” he added.

Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Bagnus Gaerlan Jr., Army’s 102nd Infantry Brigade commander, said they expect a snowball of surrenderers in the coming days “as we’ve already created the Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, part of the Executive Order 70 signed by our President”.

The E.O. No. 70, which President Rodrigo Duterte signed on December 4, 2018, institutionalizes the "whole-of-nation approach" against the communist insurgency.

So far, Gaerlan said 31 NPA rebels have surrendered to the Army’s 102nd Infantry Brigade since January, this year.

Maj. Gen. Roberto Ancan, Army’s 1st Infantry Division and Joint Task Force Zampelan (the Zamboanga Peninsula and Lanao Provinces) commander, lauded the troops for the successful surrender of the four NPA rebels and the recovery of the arms cache.

“We also recognized the efforts of the government agencies who were part of the Regional Task Forces - ELCAC 9 and E-CLIP that sincerely welcomed our long lost brothers and sisters who have been victims of lies and deceit and wanted another chance to live peacefully,” Ancan said.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1077450

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