By Teofilo Garcia, Jr. | Philippine News Agency
ZAMBOANGA CITY – A top military official is calling on remnants of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the Zamboanga Peninsula to surrender and avail of the government’s program to live a new life.
Brig. Gen. Leonel Nicolas, 102nd Infantry Brigade commander, said Saturday (Feb. 26) that the government will always welcome NPA rebels who will decide to abandon the armed struggle to start a new life.
“They are welcome to return to the mainstream of society,” Nicolas said.
Nicolas said the surrender of five NPA remnants this week in Zamboanga del Sur is a clear manifestation that the downfall of the NPA nears.
Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, 53rd Infantry Battalion commander, said Saturday that two of the five NPA members belonging to the group’s remnants surrendered and voluntarily turned over two high-powered firearms Monday at his headquarters in Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur.
Herrera said one of them was a former commander of the NPA’s Front Committee Kara while the other was a member of the same group.
Herrera said the other three surrendered on Wednesday also at his headquarters.
He said the five NPA surrenderers are being processed to be enrolled with the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) to prepare them for their transition to mainstream society.
He disclosed that it is better for the NPA remnants to surrender than to live like a crime group member since all the three NPA’s front committees in Zamboanga del Sur have already been dismantled.
Meanwhile, Herrera said a food cache of the NPA was unearthed by the troops with support from the community Friday in Purok 4, Sitio Lanayan, Barangay Gasa, Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur.
The location of the hidden food cache was revealed to the troops by Alias Ka Marlon, former Front Committee Kara commander who surrendered Monday, according to Herrera.
He said the food caches consist of four containers of 20 liters filled with rice and assorted food supplies.
“Hunger will compel the remnants of communist terrorist groups to abandon their fight and eventually return to the folds of the law,” Herrera said in a statement posted on the 53IB Facebook account.
The Communist Party of the Philippines – NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973. (PNA) – bny
