CAMP BANCASI, Butuan City – A couple holding key positions in the Communist movement, along with five other New People’s Army (NPA) commanders, surrendered to local officials and government security forces in Bukidnon province, Maj. Regie H. Go, chief of Public Affairs Office (PAO) of the Army’s 4th Infantry (Diamond) Division (4th ID) said.
New People’s Army (MANILA BULLETIN)
In an exclusive interview with The Manila Bulletin on Wednesday, the PAO chief of the 4th ID said Commander Jigger, 37, commanding officer of Guerilla Front 6 (GF6) of Front Operation Command (FOC) and his wife Ka Jamby, 28, secretary and strategist who was involved in radicalizing new members of the same command, were the first ones to give themselves up to Valencia City Mayor Azucena Huervas and Bukidnon fourth district Rep. Rogelio Neil Roque, thru barangay Banlag councilor Saliezer Dejos, last week.
After learning of the couple’s, five other field NPA commanders of the Sentro de Grabidad and Sandatahang Yunit Pampropaganda 5 (SYP5) North Central Mindanao Regional Committee also turned themselves in to local officials and government forces in Valencia City, Bukidnon province.
The couple and the NPA commanders were officially presented yesterday to the command group of the Army’s 403rd Infantry (Peacemaker) Brigade through the 88th Infantry Battalion (88th IB).
The couple, along with their five comrades, were also presented by Valencia City officials to Bukidnon Gov. Jose Ma. Zubiri, Jr. who is provincial chairman of the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) Committee.
The true names of the surrenderees were temporarily withheld for their safety and security.
Go said the initial tactical information given by the couple and the NPA commanders said the Communist movement was already losing ground because people started to notice the progress of projects that President Duterte put in place in the different barangays in the province.
“Setting up of various health centers in remote areas, construction of roads and bridges, road widening and expansion, among all other government programs where the poorest of the poor are all counted in are main factors in giving up themselves back to the fold of the government, the 4th ID PAO officer said.
They (surrendrers) said that with the Executive Order 70 and the full implementation of End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) program, the barrio folks felt the government is getting closer to them, he said.
“Newly paved highways eased the farm-to-market deliveries of their harvests. Our supporters, therefore, started to fall off. Eventually, they [mass base] withdrew their support to our group,” Maj. Go said, quoting the statement of “Commander Jamby”.
Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Edgardo De Leon, commanding general of the Army’s 403rd Infantry (Peacemaker) Brigade said the surrender of the Front Secretary was a very significant breakthrough of the Task Force ELCAC in Bukidnon province.
He said Guerrilla Front 6 in Bukidnon was on the brink of collapse, pointing to the continued surrender of top-ranking NPA leaders and the fall of several members as indicators.
“Joma [Jose Maria Sison] is singing his own praises. The rising number of Guerilla Fronts that Joma boastfully claimed is now waning. Jamby revealed that 18 KRBs (Kilusang Rebolusyonaryong Barangay or CPP ‘shadow government’) that she personally established in Bukidnon were dismantled due to the people’s withdrawal of membership in their “KalMas (Kalihokang Masa)” and “Sanga sa Partido sa Lokalidad (SPL),” claimed Brig. Gen. De Leon, in a statement.
Maj. Gen. Franco Nemesio M. Gacal, commanding general of the Army’s Northeastern and Northern Mindanao 4th ID commended the 403rd Brigade, the 88IB, and the local government unit of Bukidnon for winning the peaceful war in that part of Mindanao.
“Our war is not focused on winning battles through the barrel of guns. Ours is a peaceful war involving communities in conflict-affected areas. We, together with local leaders and our constituents, join hands and commit to battle land issues, poverty, and other problems through dialogue with the right people, organization, and agency,” said the 4th ID chief, in the same statement sent to The Manila Bulletin on Wednesday.
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