TIMELY SURRENDER. A soldier accompanies NPA rebel Paquito Mamites (in blue shirt) to a site where North Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco waits for his surrender in Barangay Don Panaca, Magpet, North Cotabato on Thursday (Dec. 12, 2019). He says he surrendered to the government in his desire to be with his family this Christmas time. (Photo courtesy of North Cotabato PIO)
COTABATO CITY -- North Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco on Thursday afternoon accepted the surrender of a 54-year-old communist rebel who decided to be with his family this Christmas.
Catamco welcomed Paquito Mamites during a surrender ceremony held at Barangay Don Panaca, Magpet, North Cotabato.
Col. Gabriel Viray, the Army’s 901st Infantry Brigade commander, who accompanied Catamco at the surrender site, said Mamites is a member of the New People's Army and he had been a resident of Barangay Balite, also in Magpet.
“A child will most likely join the communist movement if the parents have no time taking care of them, especially as they become adolescents and teenagers,” Catamco said.
She pointed out that if the parents take care of their children, the youngsters would be protected from rebel recruiters.
She said the objective of the provincial government's “Local Serbisyo Caravan” is to bring government services to the far-flung villages so that its constituents will have no reason to fight the government because of perceived negligence.
Mamites, who yielded with his M-16 rifle, received initial assistance of PHP20,000 through the local government unit of Magpet.
He will be qualified for additional support from the government, including education assistance through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
The national government has rejected offers for a bilateral Christmas truce by the communist rebels.
The NPA, together with the Communist Party of the Philippines, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and the Philippines.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1088666
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