Ex-rebel mom tells children to abandon NPA

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 20, 2022): Ex-rebel mom tells children to abandon NPA (By Sarwell Meniano)

MOM'S APPEAL. Former rebel Helen Nuevo of Kananga, Leyte grants a virtual interview in a radio program of the Army’s 802nd Infantry Brigade based in Ormoc City on Sunday (June 19, 2022). She urged her two children to abandon the New People’s Army. (Photo courtesy of Philippine Army)

A mother, a former member of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Leyte, asked for help in saving the lives of her two children who are still in the armed struggle of the communist terrorist group.

Helen Nuevo, 43, of Kananga, Leyte is worried about the plight of her son and daughter who are active NPA members in Southern Leyte province.

Her son Jannel, 26, is a member of NPA squad 2, platoon 1 hiding in the mountains of Southern Leyte while her daughter, Realyn, 23, is the finance and logistics staff of NPA sub-regional committee of Eastern Visayas regional party committee.

Helen, who laid low two decades ago, learned about her two children’s whereabouts based on letters she received from them.

“Don’t believe on the NPA’s claim that soldiers would torture surrenderers from the NPA. It’s not true. I’ve been with the Philippine Army, and they are respectful to me (even) if I have not formally surrendered,” Nuevo said during a radio program of the Army’s 802nd Infantry Brigade based in Ormoc City on Sunday.

She urged her children not to believe the deception of the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Nuevo’s husband, Santoy, died as an NPA fighter during an encounter with government troops in Carigara, Leyte.

The promise of a better future and free education for their children persuaded the couple to join the communist terrorist group in Leyte.

Col. Noel Vestuir, commander of the 802nd Infantry Brigade, lauded Nuevo’s courage in coming into the open as she expressed concern on the plight of her children in the terrorist group.

“Let us help her locate her children, encourage them to surface and surrender, avail the Enhanced-Comprehensive Local Integration Program, and live a normal life,” Vestuir said in a statement.

The 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 ATC 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/1177047