Tboli local officials welcome surrender of 11 former NPA rebels


T’BOLI, SOUTH COTABATO-  Local officials here welcomed the surrender on Monday of eleven former New People’s Army rebels who opted to return to the folds of the law to  avail the government’s peace and development initiatives.

Mayor  Dibu Tuan said the NPA surrenderees had earlier yielded to 5th Special Forces Battalion following the intensified community outreach programs launched by the local government in far-flung villages of the municipality.

He stressed that many  NPA members in several Indigenous Peoples communities opted to surrender to military authorities amid the waning support for communist movement in the locality.

The NPA surrenderees also yielded several high-powered firearms including Browning Automatic rifle, M1 Carbine rifle, three M79 grenade launchers and one .45 caliber pistol.

Lt.Col. Zandro Alves, 5th Special Forces Battalion commander, said the NPA surrenderees belong to NPA Guerilla Front 73 and Musa operating in the tri-boundary of  South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani.

The former NPA members served as community organizers tasked to organize the IP and peasant sectors  to rebel against the government.

The local government had provided each NPA surrenderees P10,000 cash assistance and 25 kilos rice allocation as immediate assistance while the documentation for their enlistment into the Comprehensive Local Integration Program of the national government is still being processed.        

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