Broken promises force NPA child recruits to surrender

From the Philippine Information Agency (Nov 20, 2020): Broken promises force NPA child recruits to surrender (By Jan Leuterio, Jeanevieve Abangan)

DAVAO DEL NORTE, Nov. 19 (PIA) – The New People’s Army makes false promises to recruit members and keeps them from returning home.

During Kapihan sa DavNor on November 18, 2020, two former rebels aliased “Yang-yang” and “Benjong” revealed how the NPA’s broken promises led them to surrender.

Yang-yang, a former rebel who was only 14-years old when she joined the NPA, served as a lookout and medic, said that the NPA promised to help her struggling family if she joined.

“Tungod sa ilang mga pasalig nga tabangan nila akong ginikanan. Syempre kami, nag lisud-lisud pud mi sa una mao to nga nisampa ko kay naa man silay pasalig nga tabangan nila akong pamilya (Because of their promises that they will help my parents; since at the time, we were struggling in life so that’s why I joined because they promised to help my family),” she said.

False Promises

However, when she was able to communicate with her parents, she found out that the NPA did not help her family at all.

“Nagka communicate mi sa akong mama, didto na nako nahibal-an nga wala diay. Miskan piso nga naabot sa ilaha, wala sila gitabangan (I communicated with my mother. I found out then that not even 1 peso was given to them for help),” she added.

Another former rebel, Benjong, who had been in the movement for 13 years when he was 13 years old, said that there was unfairness in how the NPA higher-ups would treat the members.

“Akong obserbasyon sa ilaha, kung sila ang naay problema sa ilahang han-ay, dali ra kaayo ma sulbad. Sila man ang nagdala sa budget, sa mga kinolekta nila sa extortion. Unya sa amoa nga maoy ginasugo pirmente, dili nila solbaron ang problema (From what I observed from them, if they [the higher-ups] have problems, it gets solved quickly. They’re the ones holding the budget collected from extortion. However, when it’s us, the ones working in the ground, who have problems, they don’t help us),” he said.

Benjong revealed being tasked to snipe soldiers as an underage, and became a squad leader at 23 as well as committee member.

Yang-Yang expressed the same experience saying, “Kung naa kay ipangayo sa ila, dili nila ihatag. Kung sila ang nanginahanglan dali ra kaayo, pero’g kami wala gyud intawun (If you ask them for something you need, they don’t give you. If they’re the ones who have needs, they get it quickly, but us, we get nothing).”

Benjong particularly recounted a time when his mother was sick and didn’t get help despite his request for it. It was the last straw that made him surrender.

“Nagtawag kog sekreto sa sundalo, kay ang akong obserbasyon wala naman gyuy klaro gyud. Naglagot pud ko ato kay akong ginikanan wala nila tabangi, tambal ra gani akong gipangayo sa ila ato, so kay wala man gyud. Ning iskapo ko pagka gabii. Bitbit nakong armas duha kabuok (I secretly contacted the soldiers, because from what I observed the movement truly was no good. I was also angry at the time because they didn’t help my mother, medicine was all I asked for, and since there wasn’t any help, I escaped at night bringing two firearms),” Benjong added.

Life of hardship

As a former armed member, Benjong shared how difficult life was when he was still part of the NPA.

“Daghan mi’g kasinati-an didto, kalisod. Di gyud lalim didto. Sa akong pagkuyog-kuyog nako sa ila didto, sakripisyo jud kaayo, usahay matulog nalang gani mi sa yuta lang, sa lapok. Unya basa among sanina, ma encounter pa gyud mi (We have a lot of difficult experiences there. It’s truly not easy, full of sacrifices. Sometimes we sleep in the mud and our clothes are drenched, and then we have encounters with the military),” he said.

“Usahay didto, may lang gani’g sa usa ka adlaw makakaon mi’g ika isa, gukuron pa gyud mi sa sundalo. Perte gyung luoya gyud (Sometimes there, you’d be lucky to have one meal in a day while you’re being chased by the military. It was really difficult),” he added.

Benjong revealed that the higher-ups’ only solution with the hardship was more promises.

“Inig makita na nila nga murag di na nimo kaya, doktrinahan na pud ka nila aron di ka kauli (When they see that we can longer take it, they convince you again so that you won’t go home),” Benjong said.

“Ginapadasig ko nila nga dili lang daw mu-uli kay dili daw na pirmente nga sitwasyon. Pero akong gina timbang pirmente, wa gyud klarong ka-ugmaon gyud kung magpabili gyud ko ani. Nag struggle na akong huna-huna ato (They promised me that the situation won’t last forever, that I shouldn’t go home. But I’ve already been weighing my options at the time, I saw that there was no future if I stayed. I had an inner struggle at the time),” he explained.

Life in government

With the both of them having surrendered and currently living in the government’s side, they expressed their satisfaction of their new life.

“Ganahan mi karon sa sundalo kay maayu ilang pagtagad sa amoa, ug kung unsa among kailangan tabangan mi nila (We like the soldiers now because they treat us well, whatever rudwe need they help us),” Yang-yang expressed.

After surrendering and going back to the government, Yang-yang received P65,000 cash from the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) along with rice assistances.

She hopes to continue her education.

Benjong, who surrendered along with two firearms, received over P200,000 and is now currently living in the 60IB as a CAFGU (Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit). (Jan Vincent Leuterio, PIA-XI/jmda)

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1059462