CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro – A total of 46 New People’s Army rebels under the Lucio de Guzman Command operating in Mindoro island surrendered to authorities recently.
They took their oath of allegiance and pledged to work closely with the government in its anti-insurgency campaign.
Ariel T. Perlado, director of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency 4-B, said their surrender was an offshoot of the relentless efforts of the police and the military to curb armed anti-government activities in Mindoro where the headquarters of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA sub-regional military area Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee was once discovered.
Perlado presented the surrenderers to the local National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) headed by Oriental Mindoro Gov. Humerlito A. Dolor as chairperson and Brig. Gen. Augusto V. Villareal of the Philippine Army 203rd Brigade as co-chairperson during a recent oath-taking ceremony in Calapan City.
Their surrender was facilitated by the 1st Police Mobile Force Company (PMFC), 2nd PMFC, 403rd B Maneuver Company (MC) of the Regional Mobile Force Batallion (RMFB)-4B, and 10 Special Action Battalion (SAB) of PNP Special Action Force (SAF).
Some of the surrenderers reportedly served as ordnance support personnel of the NPA. They yielded a homemade shotgun with ammunition, two improvised explosive devices, assorted ammo, and two revolvers.
Villareal said the government is serious in its campaign to attain long-lasting peace in the region and his message was echoed by Brig. Gen. Sidney S. Hernia, regional director of the Police Regional Office 4-B (Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan area), who told the former rebels that most of their comrades have already abandoned the ideology of the communist terrorist group.
Hernia reported that year 2021 had the largest number of surrenderers with 202. Last year had 183.
Dolor said the provincial government has a package of assistance for rebel returnees such as housing, education, livelihood, provision of electricity, and infrastructure to support far-flung agricultural area.
Perlado said that after debriefing, they will be enrolled in the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive and Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) for their reintegration to the community.