SURRENDER. Five more New People’s Army rebels from South Cotabato and Sarangani provinces surrendered last Tuesday (Nov. 12, 2019) to the Army’s 27th Infantry Battalion following a series of negotiations. Photo shows three of the five surrenderers who yielded along with high-powered firearms. (Photo courtesy of the 27IB)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The government’s intensified campaign against the communist insurgency has continued to gain ground in South Cotabato and Sarangani provinces, with the surrender early this week of five more members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Lt. Col. Jones Otida, commanding officer of the Army’s 27th Infantry Battalion (IB), said Thursday the rebels formally yielded and turned over their firearms last Tuesday at the Army headquarters in Tupi, South Cotabato.
He said that four of the rebels were from Tampakan, South Cotabato and one from Maasim, Sarangani.
Otida identified the four surrenderers from Tampakan as aliases “Toto,” “Diego,” “Ebing” and “Alex/Peret,” who were listed as members of the NPA’s Front 74 Sub-Regional Committee Alip-Far South Mindanao Region (FSMR).
He said they voluntarily handed over an AK47 rifle, M16 Colt rifle, Garand rifle, M1 Carbine rifle, and an anti-tank mine.
Another surrenderer from Maasim, identified only as alias Randy, surrendered along with his AK47 rifle, he said.
Otida said alias “Randy” was a member of the Front 73 Sub-Regional Committee Musa-FSMR, which operates in the hinterland tri-boundaries of South Cotabato, Sarangani, and Sultan Kudarat provinces.
“They decided to surrender due to their difficult situation and desire to go back to their families,” he said in a statement.
Alias “Randy” was quoted as saying there was no more reason for them to continue the armed struggle as government services and development projects are now reaching even the remote communities.
"I have seen how our communities developed these past years through various government interventions. We now have more farm-to-market roads, we have free education and health services,” the former rebel was quoted by the 27IB as saying.
Otida said the surrender of the rebels “can be associated” to the arrest in Maitum, Sarangani last month of Nicanor Pason, a top leader of the NPA-FSMR.
He also credited it to the continuous support of concerned stakeholders, especially the local government units, and the implementation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 70, which institutionalized the "whole-of-nation" approach as a strategy to attain inclusive and sustainable peace in the country.
“The ranks of the communist terrorist group in our area of operation are already dwindling because of these efforts,” he said.
Otida added that they will enlist the surrenderers into the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program, which will provide them with livelihood assistance and other socio-economic interventions.
Last week, at least 19 NPA rebels from parts of South Cotabato also surrendered to the Police Regional Office-12’s intelligence unit.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1086020
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