AMPATUAN, Maguindanao – Eight more members of communist New Peoples’ Army (NPA) operating in the mountains of Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao have surrendered to the Army Saturday due to empty promises of their leaders.
Lt. Colonel Lauro Oliveros, commander of the 1st Mechanized Battalion (MB) based here, said the surrender was realized after the military coordinated and worked with Teduray tribal leaders.
Oliveros said there were actually more than eight rebels who wished to avail of the government’s reintegration program, as there were fresh recruits but were not yet armed and have participated in the movement at different levels.
“Some of them (recruits) were runners, still undergoing the process of joining the rebel movement when they decided to surrender,” he said. “Only the eight were regular members of the movement.”
One of the surrenderers told the Army’s 1st MB that the rebel recruiters promised them that schools will be put up in their communities and that their ancestral lands grabbed by settlers will be recovered.
Ading, one of the returnees, said the worst thing the rebel leaders asked him to do was to execute fellow Teduray for no reason at all.
The local government of Ampatuan is in the process of assessing the qualification of returnees so they can avail of the assistance the government has prepared for them. The rebel surrenderers have turned over 14 assorted rifles.
“Once qualified they be included in the Comprehensive Local Integration Program where they can get livelihood assistance in exchange for returned firearms,” Oliveros said.
The eight returnees are now undergoing investigation and debriefing at the 1st MB headquarters here. So far, the 1st MB has convinced 140 NPA rebels to surrender to the government. ( /PNA)
