CABADBARAN CITY, Agusan del Norte --- Two (2) NPA rebels voluntarily surrendered on Thursday, October 21, 2021, at the Headquarters of 29th Infantry “Matatag” Battalion located at P4, Barangay Del Pilar, this city.
The said returnees, known as alias @Roy, 24 yrs old and alias @Rey, 23 yrs old both married and residents of Brgy. Maraiging, Jabonga, Agusan del Norte, are active members of Sangay Yunit Pampropaganda (SYP) 16A, Guerilla Front (GF) 16 of North Eastern Mindanao Command (NEMRC) under Samuel Batican alias @Popo. They took the courage to surrender to Lt. Col. Jason Saldua, the Commanding Officer of 29IB, and brought along with them two AK47 with defaced serial number, two bandoliers, and seven magazines loaded with ammunition.
According to them, they wanted to return to the government after having a miserable and desperate life with the Communist NPA Terrorists (CNTs). A life exactly opposite to what the CNTs have promised to them.
They added that they felt longingness of their families being away from them that resulted to extreme loneliness which further added to their motivation to surrender and be with mainstream society.
They said that CNT members have scarcer supplies, fewer food and deprived of sleep which resulted to extreme hunger and fatigue causing them to run away from their group and surrender. Also, they said that they could feel that the CNTs were struggling from gaining supports from the community even from the place where they came from.
Lt. Col. Jason Saldua believed that the remaining CNTs are now looking for their way out. "They have nowhere to go because of the continuous tactical operations conducted by the unit and the establishment of the Forward Operational Bases (FOBs) in the area of operation which blockaded the CNTs’ supply and mobility routes that resulted to a great shortage of foods and other supplies for their members,” he said.
Lt. Col. Saldua added that the surrendered CNTs will be enrolled to Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program or E-CLIP and they will receive financial and other assistance from the government.
It can be recalled that 17 former rebels who had have returned to the fold of the law and mainstream society in the province of Agusan del Norte were already recipients of the housing assistance from the government through E-CLIP and the Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict or PTF-ELCAC.
“We will continue to pursue this weakening enemy, we will not stop until they decide to surrender their arms and return to the folds of the law,” Lt. Col Saldua added. (2Lt. Roselyn M. Matulac, CMO Officer, 29th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army/PIA Agusan del Norte)
