Surrenderees rising

From the Mindanao Times (Jun 10): Surrenderees rising

Army says NPA members fed up with life in the mountains

THE 69th Infantry Battalion recorded 16 rebel surrenderees from Malabog and Paquibato districts since January this year, already surpassing the total number of New People’s Army members who left the movement in its area of jurisdiction in the whole year of 2012. Lt. Col. Inocencio Pasaporte, 69th IB commander, said they recorded 11 surrenderees in their area of responsibility last year.

The battalion commander disclosed that majority of the rebels come from Pulang Bagani Command 1 in Paquibato and Front Committee 56 operating in Malabog area.

Pasaporte said they will assist the rebels in processing the necessary documents for them to avail of the government’s integration program. They will also undergo a psychosocial debriefing from the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The agency will determine the appropriate livelihood for them.

According to Pasaporte, the former rebels informed them that the NPA did not fulfill its promise to support their families after joining the movement.

The 16 returnees were just among the 74 rebel surrenderees this year, based on the the 10th Infantry Division records.

Lt. Col. Lyndon Paniza, 10th ID spokesperson, said the former rebels came from Baguio District, Calinan District, some parts of Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley and as far as South Cotabato.

The spokesperson said the number of surrenderees increased this year although he could not give the exact figure how many returned to the fold for the same period in 2012. However, there were a total of 186 rebels who surrendered in 2012.

“Before, rebels were very hesitant to approach the military in surrendering. Instead, they would go directly to the police or barangays officials and leaders,” Paniza said.

“This time, we could see mostly that they approached our peace and development teams that were deployed in the barangays, which was the result of the trust they gained with the soldiers.”

“We are expecting this (number of surrenderees) to increase, especially because of the comprehensive local integration program (CLIP),” He added.

Jonathan Bustamante was the most recent NPA member who surrendered to the troops of the 72nd IB while conducting a security checkpoint in Sitio Logdeck, Brgy. Amor Cruz, Laak, Compostela Valley at around 11:45 a.m. last June 1. Bustamante had wounds all over his body and was immediately given first aid.

The report said that the former rebel admitted that he was among the members of the rebel group who engaged troops in firefight last May 31. He also revealed the location of his issued firearm after hiding it during the course of their escape.

The Charlie Company of the 60th IB went to the encounter site at the Sitio Cogon in Barangay Baluarte and recovered the AK-47 automatic rifle.

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