Mayor urges peace talks, NPA to surrender
Appeal aired after six-year-old boy killed in gun battle
VICE Mayor Felix Mathias Segundo Yulo meets the family of a six-year-old boy who was killed in an encounter between the military and the New People's Army (NPA) in Barangay Quintin Remo, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental on Tuesday, Oct. 28. (Vice Mayor Pimpoy Yulo)
BACOLOD CITY – Mayor Ella Celestina Garcia-Yulo has called on the New People’s Army (NPA) to surrender and pursue peace talks, following a gun battle between soldiers and communist rebels where a six-year-old boy was killed in Sitio Matal-i, Barangay Quintin Remo, Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
"It’s heartbreaking that a child, innocent and blameless, lost his life in this war,” Yulo said as he mourned the death of the victim in the crossfire.
She urged the NPA surrender, stressing the need to end the violence that continues to affect civilians in remote farming communities.
Yulo said residents in upland areas often find themselves trapped between opposing forces. “When the military passes through, they question residents about the presence of the NPA. When the rebels arrive, they do the same, often suspecting civilians of being informants,” she said.
The mayor assured that the local and provincial governments are ready to help rebels who wish to return to mainstream society. “Let’s end the war in the mountains, for peace, for freedom,” she appealed.