More than 500 communist rebels have surrendered to the government since the peace talks between the government and the New People’s Army (NPA) were terminated in February this year, the military said Saturday.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
Marine Col. Edgard Arevalo, chief military information officer, said those who surrendered totaled 512 since February 4 this year and also turned over the firearms issued to them when they joined the NPA.
For this month alone, Arevalo said a total of 18 communist rebels have decided to surrender, including a 16-year-old boy in T’boli town of South Cotabato.
“The continuous surrender of NPA members is indicative of the organization’s dwindling strength. This is also a clear manifestation of our successful intensified combat, intelligence and civil-military operations, particularly in Northeastern Mindanao which is the NPA’s area of concentration,” said Arevalo.
The official also disclosed that since February this year, the military has killed 121 other communist rebels and 94 were arrested in various parts of the country.
A total of 578 high-powered and low-powered firearms were taken from the NPAs.
The communist rebels have been waging almost five decades of armed struggle against the government, despite several attempts over the years to ink a peace agreement.
The military estimated that there are some 4,000 communist rebels across the country, most of them concentrated in eastern part of Mindanao. The figure however has long been a military estimate.
The NPA has reportedly collecting multimillion-peso revolutionary taxes from various persons and businessmen.
President Duterte earlier vowed to crush the NPA after a series of attacks on the government which led to the cancellation of the peace talks.
Over the weekend, an NPA ambush in Bukidnon killed a four-month-old baby and a policeman.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/11/11/512-communist-rebels-surrendered-to-govt-since-february-this-year/
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