TACLOBAN CITY (PNA) – A member of the New People’s Army (NPA) surrendered to the police in Northern Samar as government forces heightened their fight against communist terrorists in the province.
The surrenderer, alias “Inday,” 41, male, of Pambujan, Northern Samar, surrendered to the 2nd Northern Samar Provincial Mobile Force Company (NSPMFC) and San Roque, Northern Samar municipal police, the police regional office here said Monday, July 25.
The two police units facilitated and negotiated his surrender in Barangay Dale, San Roque, Saturday, July 23.
Inday is now under the custody of the 2nd NSPMFC for facilitation, assessment, documentation, and initial interview before the Enhanced Comprehensive Livelihood Integration Program application.
"Another life has been saved and changed which means a good start for our brother. I hope that more and more of them will choose to go back to the side of the government in the days to come," Eastern Visayas police chief Police Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said in a statement.
Banac said Inday’s decision to abandon the NPA is a result of the government's intensified counter-insurgency drive in Northern Samar.
Last July 11, 232 police officers were deployed in Northern Samar to replace the 162 personnel assigned in the province for months to participate in the government's whole-of-nation approach to end the decades-old insurgency.
They are part of the Retooled Community Support Program team tasked to assess the needs and identify primary and secondary issues being exploited by the NPAs.