CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY —- Fourteen non-combatant rebels who were members of an Underground Mass Organization (UGMO) of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) have surrendered to the authorities in Bukidnon on Friday, July 15.
In a joint press conference Friday here, Police Brig. Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr., the Police Regional Office 10 (Northern Mindanao) director, said the returnees surrendered through the joint effort of different police units in Bukidnon and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Region 10.
The UGMOs have been established by the CPP-NPA-NDF for purposes of advancing and supporting the armed atrocities and terrorist activities of the rebels, according to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
NICA-10 director Manuel Orduña, in the same press conference, confirmed that some of the returnees were from the Katipunan ng mga Samahang Manggagawa/Federation of Labor Organizations (KASAMA).
KASAMA has been named by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) as one of the underground organizations linked to the CPP-NPA-NDF.
Orduña added that some of the 14 returnees were former members of the sub-regional committee (SRC) 2, North Central Mindanao Regional Committee (NCMRC) that had been dissolved due to the intensive implementation of Executive Order (EO) no. 70 signed by former President Duterte in 2018.
The said EO pursues to institutionalize the whole-of-nation approach for collective participation and action in harmonizing government development efforts and services to support, facilitate and pursue the country's peace agenda.
The NICA-10 director assured the validation process by conducting custodial debriefing to confirm that the said 14 returnees were legitimate members of the rebel group.
“They undergo custodial debriefing, which means they will be interviewed one by one by our escort operatives and these are validated, that is why they are here,” said Orduña in the vernacular.
“Their participation has been validated and it showed on the custodial debriefing,” added Orduña.
During the press conference, the returnees received food packs and cash assistance from the PRO-10 and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 10.
Government agencies are now processing necessary documents to include the former rebels in their beneficiaries under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).
Acorda stressed that Philippine National Police (PNP) is in full support to end the local communist armed conflict.
“The PRO-10 is in full support of our government’s peaceful and non-violent campaign. The police also follow a diplomatic way and peaceful approach in ending the local armed conflict,” Acorda said.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the 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.