Kalinaw News: 32 FRs from Ormoc take oath of allegiance during Serbisyo Caravan

Posted to Kalinaw News (Oct 18, 2021): 32 FRs from Ormoc take oath of allegiance during Serbisyo Caravan



CAMP DOWNES, Ormoc City, October 18, 2021 — Thirty-two members of the CPP-NPA-NDF, on lie-low status, from five villages in this city took their oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines before City Mayor Richard I. Gomez, highlighting the Serbisyo Caravan of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF8-ELCAC) at the City Hall lobby on Saturday morning.

The former rebels pledged to completely abandon the CPP-NPA-NDF and the violent way of life as they returned to the folds of the law.

During the occasion, 300 members of the Integrated Peace and Development Workers Associations (IPDWAs) from Ormoc City, Kananga, Albuera and Jaro, all of Leyte province, who availed of the Serbisyo Caravan, witnessed the oath taking ceremony.

Leyte Vice Governor Carlo P. Loreto, Kananga Mayor Matt Torres, City Councilor Vincent Rama, Regional Director Lord Byron Torrecarion of the Office Civil Defense 8 (OCD8), Colonel Noel Vestuir, Deputy commander of the 802nd Infantry Brigade, PColonel Ramil L. Ramirez, Ormoc City Police Office Director, Deputy Regional Director Joseph Gideon Garcio of NICA8, Provincial Director Rene Dela Cruz of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), City Local Government Operation Officer Redi Briones and other government officials also witnessed the event.

The bulk of those who formally surrendered came from Brgy. Quezon Jr. (19) and Brgy. Lake Danao. Three came from Brgy. Hugpa, and one each from Brgy. San Antonio and Brgy. Can-untog. In term of position, the highest ranking among them were a former district committee member of a CPP-NPA front committee, from Quezon Jr. and the former chairman of the Batakang Organisasyon sa Partido (BOP) in Lake Danao.

The newly surrendered lie-low communist terrorists included 11 former regular fighters, one special operation group element, six yunit milisya (ym) members, one propaganda organizing team (pot) operator, one runner, one para-legal and five underground mass organization followers.

In his message, Colonel Vestuir stressed the significance of the voluntary surrender of the lie-low CPP-NPA personalities who avoided from being reconnected to the communist terrorism movement. He said the series of surrender would snowball into the eventual total collapse of the communist terrorism movement in the island of Leyte.

Colonel Vestuir, representing Brigadier General Zosimo A. Oliveros, 802nd Brigade commander, emphasized that the yielding of the 32 lie-low CPP-NPA-NDF personalities was a product of the sole and painstaking efforts of the Ormoc IPDWA that is composed of local rebel returnees under the leadership of Conrado Labartine.

Various regional and city/municipal government agencies like the OCD, TESDA, City Health Office, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Labor and Employment, Public Employment Service Office, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Department of Agriculture converged for the special Serbisyo Caravan for the former rebels mostly from the 4th legislative district (except Jaro) of Leyte.

The Sentrong Alyansa ng mga Mamamayan para sa Bayan (SAMBAYANAN) Eastern Visayas closely worked with the DILG’s Ormoc CLGOO, 93rd Infantry (Bantay Kapayapaan) Battalion, 802nd Brigade, the Ormoc City Police Office, PNP, and the Ormoc IPDWA for the hosting of the half-day event showcasing the government services.

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https://www.kalinawnews.com/32-frs-from-ormoc-take-oath-of-allegiance-during-serbisyo-caravan/