TANDAG CITY, Surigao del Sur, Dec 26 -- A total of 123 Communist NPA Terrorist (CNT) members and their supporters voluntarily surrendered to the Community Support Program (CSP) teams of the Army’s 36th Infantry (Valor) Battalion (36IB) from the third and fourth quarters of the year 2019 in the province of Surigao del Sur.
Of the 123 surrenderees, 10 of them are NPA regulars on lie-low status, 32 were Milisya ng Bayan, five Sanga sa Partido sa Localidad (SPL) and 76 Underground Mass Organization (UGMO) members.
Accordingly, they were from Sitio Banahao of Barangay Maitom in Tandag City; Sitio Cadlum of Barangay Cabangahan in Tago town; and Sitio Baroboan of Barangay Carromata, Sitio Kiskis of Barangay Siagao, and Sitio Inadan of Barangay Magroyong, all in San Miguel town.
The said locations were identified as conflict-affected areas and geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas where the communities are vulnerable to the recruitment of the CNTs through their lies and deceit to join their futile cause.
CSP teams deployed in Sitio Banahao, Barangay Maitom facilitated a total of 71 surrenderees; 11 surrenderees in Sitio Inadan, 24 in Sitio Kis-kis, eight in Sitio Cadlum, and nine surrenderees in Sitio Baroboan.
One of the regular NPA members expressed his resentment to the CNTs for the miserable life he suffered inside the organization. He realized that the NPA is fighting a lost cause, while their leaders are enjoying a better life through extortion and revolutionary taxes.
“Life there is so difficult, every day we roam in the mountains looking and seeking for an answer on our cause. I voluntarily surrendered because I was afraid that maybe one day my life will be in danger and a possibility that someday I cannot see my family anymore,” he said.
In a statement, Lt. Col. Jezreel Diagmel, 36IB Commanding Officer said, the mass surrender is the result of the military’s relentless combat operations against the CNTs and the deployment CSP teams in the identified conflict-affected areas with the help of the LGU and other stakeholders within the 36IB area of operation.
“The CNTs are weakening and have been losing mass base support which is their lifeblood in advancing their objectives. The growing numbers of surrenders and shifting of support of the masses to the government is a manifestation that they are already awakened on the deception strategy and the futile arm struggle of the CNT’s,” the army official added.
The 123 CNT members and supporters who surrendered will undergo the process of validation for them to qualify and avail for the enrollment of the Enhanced-Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP), a government intervention program intended for the formal rebels. (Capt. Jonald Romorosa, 36IB-CMO/PIA-Surigao del Sur)
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