10th Infantry Division, OPAPRU team up to help normalize lives of ex-NPAs

COTABATO CITY — The Army’s 10th Infantry Division and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity are to expand cooperation in helping former members of the New People’s Army secure amnesty from the government to hasten their reintegration into mainstream society.

More than 500 NPAs from far-flung towns in Regions 10, 11 and 13 had surrendered in batches to units of the 10th ID since 2023.

Army officials told reporters on Sunday, June 22, that Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. of OPAPRU had also assured, in a dialogue on Thursday, June 19, with erstwhile NPA guerillas who returned to the fold of law, to help connect them to government agencies that can provide them education, livelihood and socio-economic support needed to boost their productivity.

Officials of different peace-advocacy groups also participated in the dialogue, held at the 10th ID’s headquarters in Camp General Manuel Yan Sr. in Mawab, Davao de Oro.

“The government’s peace process is something that we are doing our best to implement. What we are doing now shall continue moving forward,” Galvez told participants in the dialogue, among them local executives and former NPAs who are now officials of livelihood cooperatives.

He then lauded the officials of the 10th Infantry Division, under the command of Major General Allan Hambala, for their ongoing backchannel efforts to facilitate the surrender of the few remaining members of the now apparently weakened NPA.

Galvez had committed to help them connect former NPA guerillas to the National Amnesty Commission where they can secure safe conduct passes for them to freely move around, without fear of arrest by the police and the military, while applying for amnesty that they need for them to have normal lives after fighting the government as communist insurgents.