5 NPA rebels yield in S. Cotabato, S. Kudarat provinces

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 22, 2024): 5 NPA rebels yield in S. Cotabato, S. Kudarat provinces (By Edwin Fernandez)

Image courtesy of Police Regional Office-12

KORONADAL CITY – Five communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels decided to return to the fold of the law in South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces over the weekend.

“Police withheld their identities as requested by the surrendering rebels for security reasons,” Brig. Gen. Jimili Macaraeg, police director for the Soccsksargen Region, said in a statement Monday.

Macaraeg said the first to surrender were three NPA members under Guerilla Front Musa, Far South Mindanao Region before operatives of the police’s 1202nd Maneuver Company, Regional Mobile Force Battalion - 12 in Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat on Sunday morning.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1217385

In the afternoon of the same day, two rebels turned themselves in to the police’s Provincial Mobile Force Company in Barangay Hanoon, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato.

The two have handed over a .38-caliber revolver and a hand grenade upon their surrender.

Macaraeg lauded the police for facilitating the peaceful surrender, which he said is an “encouraging” development.