By Priam Nepomuceno | Philippine News Agency
A total of 422 New People’s Army (NPA) insurgents and their supporters were neutralized in various operations by military units nationwide from Jan. 1 to March 14, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said.
AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, in a media briefing Wednesday, said the figure consists of 374 surrendered, 15 arrested, and 33 killed.
Over the same period, 56 NPA lairs were seized and 221 assorted firearms and 71 anti-personnel mines were recovered and surrendered by the rebels to military units, according to the AFP.
In a related development, Padilla said the declaration of Surigao del Norte as an “insurgency-free province” on March 15 is a “testament to the effective implementation of our campaigns and brings us closer to our target of dismantling the remaining guerilla fronts and vertical units in the region.”
It is also a significant development for the province in terms of peace and development, she added.