From the Business Mirror (Nov 8, 2019): Army reports mass surrender of NPA rebels, supporters in Central Luzon
The military on Thursday said it has scored its biggest offensive yet against communist-led New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Central Luzon following the surrender of 77 supporters in the provinces of Aurora and Nueva Ecija on Wednesday, in what was also considered as the biggest mass surrender on a single day since the government launched its campaign of ending the local communist armed conflict.
Col. Andrew Costelo, commander of the Army’s 703rd Infantry Brigade, which has operational jurisdiction over Central Luzon, said those who have turned themselves to authorities were members of different local groups under the “Sangay ng Partido sa Localidad” and “Yunit Milisyang Bayan,” the mass base unit of the rebels where they draw support from, especially in areas where they operate.
A total of 53 rebel supporters and followers yielded in 13 groups to members of the 84th Infantry Battalion at Sitio Lising and Pandayan in Barangay Capintalan, and Sitio Malihdi in Barangay Minuli, both in the municipality of Carranglan, Nueva Ecija, at around 5 a.m. on Wednesday.
The mass surrender, which was facilitated by village officials, was borne by the special intelligence project Operational Plan Maharlika II, which was initiated by the 84th IB in support of the Regional and Provincial Task Forces to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (Elcac).
An M-16 rifle was also turned over by the rebel supporters.
“The communities fall victims to communist ideology making them see everything that the organization wanted them to see. By the time they realized the truth that they believed in were all lies, they find it hard to break away, hence leaving them with no other choice but continue the fight against the government,” Costelo said.
“Therefore, we must exert more effort to reach out to them and pull them back to the mainstream of society. At the end of the day, they are still our people who are just waiting to be rescued and be given another chance at life,” he added.
Eight hours after the surrender in Nueva Ecija, 24 members of the Milisyang Bayan and other mass base supporters of the rebels also yielded to the elements of the 91st Infantry Battalion and 3rd Civil-Military operations Company at Barangay Dimanayat in San Luis, Aurora, wherein they also turned over three firearms.
Costelo said all of the 77 rebel supporters are still undergoing debriefing.
Meanwhile, a barangay chairman in Masbate, who was reportedly a member of the NPA, was killed during a firefight by his group with a combined team of soldiers and policemen.
Wolfert Dalanon, alias Ompong, chairman of Barangay San Antonio, Milagros, Masbate, was killed during a clash at around 6 a.m. on Wednesday in his village, according to Maj. Ricky Anthony Aguilar, spokesman of the 9th Infantry Division.
Aguilar said a joint team from the 2nd Infantry Battalion and the 2nd Masbate Provincial Mobile Force Company were on combat operations in response to a report about the presence of rebels in San Antonio.
“Barangay Chairman Wolfert Dalanon also known as Ompong died on the spot while one M-16 rifle, an M653 rifle, a carbine, a laptop and subversive documents were recovered at the encounter site,” Aguilar said.
In Sulu, the military recovered 16 unrigged pipe bombs following the capture of a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), which came in the aftermath of the killing of three reported suicide bombers, two of them an Egyptian father and son team.
Lt. Col. Gerald Monfort, spokesman of the Joint Task Force Sulu, said the ASG member, who was apprehended in Indanan, Sulu, pointed to the location of the assembled bombs, which turned out to a safehouse of the ASG at Barangay Paligue, Indanan.
“The confession led to the capture of 16 unrigged pipe bombs by the operating troops from the 41st Infantry Battalion,” he said.
“The 16 unrigged pipe bombs captured by government forces…were completely identical to the captured improvised explosives recovered from the killed suicide bombers in Barangay Kan Islam of the same municipality,” he added.
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