CAMP CAPINPIN, Tanay, Rizal – A ranking official of the Philippine Army on Tuesday said the New People’s Army (NPA) has totally lost its relevance and rebels who choose to go on fighting are just throwing their lives away for a lost cause.
Maj. Gen. Rhoderick M. Parayno, 2nd Infantry Division commander, made these remarks as he welcomed three former rebels into the government’s fold and lauded them for their “commitment to peace” after choosing to give up their struggle and turn in their firearms.
“The NPAs have lost their relevance. They have not only lost 50 years, they wasted their lives pursuing their false ideology. Today is the best time to return to the fold of law and be part of the solution rather than be one of our country’s problems,” Parayno said.
He congratulated the rebel surrenderers “for choosing their families over their comrades, for choosing peace over conflict and for choosing to be productive members of the society over being extortionists who terrorize their fellow Filipinos.”
He reiterated the AFP’s call for genuine and lasting peace in the country while assuring the former rebels’ that the military will protect them and their families. He also lauded an unnamed “government sympathizer” for facilitating the insurgents’ surrender in Batangas.
The true identities of the former rebels and facilitator have been kept secret for their protection.
A total of 45 former NPA rebels have so far surrendered and been absorbed into the military’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration program (E-CLIP) since August last year. The program makes available to them employment, housing and even education for their dependents.
Each surrenderer receives PHP65,000 as immediate livelihood assistance upon yielding to authorities, it was explained. They are also entitled to become beneficiaries of government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), it was added.
