By Lyka Manalo
BATANGAS — Ten members of New People’s Army (NPA) surrendered successively to the 730th Combat Group, Philippine Air Force in Nasugbu, this province, an official said Saturday.
Captain Patrick Jay Retumban, chief of the Public Affairs Office (PAO) 2nd Infantry Division of Philippine Army (2ID PA) said the rebel-returnees who surrendered last month will take their “Oath of Allegiance” and turn their firearms over to authorities in a ceremony scheduled on Tuesday, in Tanauan City, this province.
Retumban said eight of the ten rebels who surrendered were members of Platoon Jupiter, while the other two were from Platoon Galaxy both of the Sub- Regional
Military Area (SRMA) 4C, Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee (STRPC) operating in Batangas and Cavite.
Tomorrow’s surrender ceremony will be presided and witnessed by the Secretaries from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of National Defense (DND), Presidential Advisers for Southern Tagalog, Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas, and other top military commanders.
Retumban said the event also serves as the launching and maiden implementation of the national government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) in Southern Luzon.
The E-CLIP is a holistic inter-agency approach of the government to end insurgency peacefully by encouraging rebels to join mainstream society through various grants and compensations which they can use to start-over and become responsible members of the society.