TACLOBAN CITY – Nineteen New People’s Army rebels from Samar Island surrendered to the Police Regional Office 8 (Eastern Visayas) recently.

One of them was alias ‘’James,’’ from Basey, Samar, who joined the communist movement to exact revenge after suffering abuse from the military.

"Even my little cousin was thrown up in the air by the military back then. Life was really hard in Basey so we aimed to take revenge from the government," he said.

James surrendered after he was wounded and left behind by his comrades in an encounter in Eastern Samar. "They left me with a civilian because I could not walk. My leg was wounded. They gave me P5,000 and never came back," he said.

James and 18 comrades, including some officers, were presented by PRO-8 chief Brig. Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil.

Marbil said the increasing number of NPA rebels returning to the fold of the law indicates that more anti-government individuals have finally come to their senses and realized the deceptive intentions of the armed wing of the communist movement.

"This shows the goodness of our government, wherein the people see its programs," said Marbil, adding that the surrenderers have taken their oath of allegiance to the government.

"They have decided to leave their nonsensical struggle after knowing that their comrades who have submitted themselves to the authorities are living a good and renewed life."

Surrenderers turned over their firearms – two caliber .45 pistols, a caliber .38 revolver, an improvised firearm 5.16, and a hand grenade.

They are being processed to enable them to obtain assistance under Executive Order No. 70 through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).