Army assures support to 4 NPA surrenderers in NegOcc

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 18, 2022): Army assures support to 4 NPA surrenderers in NegOcc (By Nanette Guadalquiver)

The Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (IBde) based in Murcia, Negros Occidental has assured full assistance to the four latest surrenderers from the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in southern Negros.

Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of 303IBde, lauded the decision of the three former NPA members and a mass supporter, who turned themselves in to government troops on February 13.

“Your Army in Negros, together with the local government unit, is sincere in helping our brothers and sisters, who were victims of the lies and deceptions of communist-terrorists, start a better life once they return to the fold of the law,” Pasaporte said in a statement on Friday.

A report of the 94th Infantry Battalion (IB) said those who surrendered were a former NPA squad leader and three of his family members.

They were identified as Dionaldo “Godo” Castillo, his wife, Michelle “Lani” Castillo, residents of Sitio Aglahog, Himamaylan City, as well as his brother, Reymart “Ryan” Castillo, and their mother, Merlyn Castillo, of Sitio Balicaocao, Barangay Orong, Kabankalan City.

Both “Lani” and “Ryan” were members of the NPA while Merlyn is a mass supporter.

“Godo” was part of the NPA’s Central Negros Front 2 for eight years before he surrendered together with his kin at the 94IB patrol base in Barangay Camingawan, Kabankalan City.

Under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) administered by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), each qualified rebel surrenderer receives immediate financial assistance of PHP15,000; livelihood assistance of PHP50,000: and reintegration assistance of PHP21,000, while each surrendered firearm also has a corresponding remuneration.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The National Democratic Front has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1168065