NPA rebels yield in Cagayan

From the Manila Bulletin (Jun 5, 2023): 21 NPA rebels yield in Cagayan (By FREDDIE LAZARO)

CAMP MELCHOR F. DELA CRUZ, Isabela – Twenty-one members of the New People’s Army (NPA), including three students from Metro Manila, surrendered to the military in Cagayan on Friday, June 2.



TWENTY-one New People's Army rebels surrendered in Cagayan on Friday, June 2. They yielded a total of 23 high-powered firearms. (Army FB)

The surrenderers from the Komiteng Rehiyon Cagayan Valley were presented by the Army 5th Infantry Division to the Provincial Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict led by Gov. Manuel N. Mamba at the sub-capitol in Lal-lo, Cagayan.

Major Gen. Audrey L. Pasia, Army 5th Infantry Division chief, said they recovered a total of 30 high-powered firearms from the NPA.

Twenty-three of these were from the 21 surrenderers while five were recovered in Sitio Warawad, Barangay Cumao, Gattaran, Cagayan through information provided by three surrenderers.

The two other guns were surrendered by the Milisyang Bayan (MB) members from Barangay Villa Cielo, Buguey, Cagayan.

Pasia said they expect more NPA to return to the fold of the law in the coming days.

“We are expecting more surrenderers and recovery of more high-powered firearms in the future after this mass abandonment of CPP-NPA members under Komiteng Rehiyon Cagayan Valley,” Pasia said.

Of the 21 surrenderers, eight were members of the East Front Committee, Komiteng Probinsya Cagayan; seven from the North Front Committee, Komiteng Probinsya Cagayan, and six were members of the Komiteng Probinsya Isabela.

Among the notable surrenderers were former Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Manila student Michael Cedric Casano, alias “Henry,” secretary of the East Front Committee, former University of the Philippines-Diliman student Patricia Nicole Cuerva, alias “Maya,” Casano’s wife and a political guide of the committee, and former Dela Salle student Orion Mervin Mallari Yoshida, alias “Brown,” leader of the Komiteng Probinsya Isabela.

Pasia thanked Mamba for accepting and providing the temporary halfway house for surrenderers.

Mamba vowed to provide them with livelihood training and employment and said that the Army and the Department of the Interior and Local Government are processing their benefits from the Enhanced Comprehensive Livelihood Integration Program for rebel returnees.

Pasia said that this mass abandonment and the recovery of various firearms are the results of the collaborative efforts of various government agencies.

He reiterated his call to remnants of NPA groups in Cagayan Valley region to surrender and enjoy a peaceful life.

https://mb.com.ph/2023/6/5/21-npa-rebels-yield-in-cagayan