5 more NPAs yield to military in Agusan del Sur

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Five more members of the now apparently weakened New People’s Army had surrendered to a unit in Agusan del Sur province of the 4th Infantry Division.

Senior officials of the 4th ID and the 401st Infantry Brigade told reporters on Tuesday, July 8, that the five NPAs agreed to return to the fold of law through the joint intercession of the commanding officer of the 75th Infantry Battalion, Lt. Col. Earl Pardillo, and local executives in different towns in Agusan del Sur in Region 13.

The five NPAs, all from Barangay Bolhoon in San Miguel, Surigao del Sur, first turned over a light machinegun, four AK 47 Kalashnikov rifles and an M14 rifle to officials of the 75th IB before they pledged allegiance to the government during a symbolic rite on Sunday, July 6, at Barangay Magroyong in San Miguel, Surigao del Sur.

The five NPAs had told local leaders who helped secure their surrender via backchannel talks that they want to get reintegrated into mainstream society, just like what more than 300 of their companions, who yielded in batches to different units of the 4th ID in the past three years, did.

The five men had promised to help units of the 4th ID convince the few remaining members of the NPA in Agusan del Sur to avail of the government’s reconciliation program for communist insurgents for them to be reunited with their families and thrive peacefully in their hometowns.