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Manila Bulletin

Philippines

Ex-NPA rebels call out to former comrades in Sierra Madre to surrender

Philippines

Ex-NPA rebels call out to former comrades in Sierra Madre to surrender

By Liezle Basa Iñigo

SAN MARIANO, Isabela – Former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) took to the skies, and called out to their previous comrades still hiding in the Sierra Madre mountains to surrender on Tuesday, December 29.

Former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) took to the skies, and called out to their previous comrades still hiding in the Sierra Madre mountains to surrender on Tuesday, December 29. (95th Infantry Salaknib Battalion / MANILA BULLETIN)

Using a powerful tactical megaphone, former rebels Bombo-Agta, Allan-Agta, and Janmar took turns in calling out to their former comrades from 800 meters up onboard a military helicopter, asking them to turn themselves in.

The three also said their lives were much better now that they have returned to the fold of the law.

They also urged their former comrades to stop the bloody revolution that gravely affected the lives of the people, especially the indigenous Agta.

Soldiers and police also dropped leaflets wishing the rebels a “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) recorded a total of 313 NPA surrenders from Northern and Central Luzon for 2020.

Nolcom Commander Lt Gen Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. added that 96 assorted firearms were also turned-over to government security forces in the series of mass surrenders this year.

He explained that “formal surrender is an overt expression of the former rebels’ withdrawal of support from the Communist Party of the Philippines, something which the underground movement dreads more than losing fighters during encounters because it only shows that people are already enlightened and no longer support their so-called cause”.

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