Camp Lapulapu, Cebu City – Following the recently concluded Community Support Program (CSP) Assessment, the Visayas Command (VISCOM) informs that the influx of surrenders continues as its incessant Localized Peace Engagement (LPE) delivers irreversible losses to the CPP-NPA in the Visayas region.
From January to date, a total of 293 NPA terrorists have returned to the folds of the law. 88 of whom are from Region 6, comprising of 82 regular members and 6 members of the Milisya ng Bayan; 8 are from Region 7, all of whom are regular members; and 197 are from Region 8, comprising 132 regular members and 65 Milisya ng Bayan.
Likewise, said former rebels also known as Friends Rescued, yielded a total of 94 firearms to the government troops. Majority of the aforementioned Friends Rescued have been enrolled to the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) and have received initial assistance from the local government units and initial assistance from the ECLIP.
It was also disclosed that 24 former rebels who returned to the folds of the law on the previous years have now been enlisted in the regular force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, while 107 have been integrated to the CAFGU Active Auxiliary (CAA), being part of the integrated territorial defense system established in their respective communities.
“Amidst our eagerness to end the local communist armed conflict in the region the soonest possible time, we do not discount the fact that we are fighting against our fellow Filipinos who are also victims, having been deceived by the CPP-NPA to against our government. This is the reason why we persistently call upon them to choose the path of peace and return to the folds of the law, as we value their lives and value their families,” Lieutenant General Benedict M Arevalo PA, the Commander of VISCOM emphasized.
The most recent of this influx of surrenders transpired in Negros Oriental, wherein 25 NPA terrorists who are remnants of the weakened Central Negros 2 of the NPA’s Komiteng Rehiyon Negros, Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor (KR NCBS) returned to the folds of the law and yielded eight (8) firearms, as they pledged their allegiance to the government in a simple ceremony held at the City Hall of Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on November 17.
“As we are highly motivated to sustain our momentum in our focused military operations, we also put equal emphasis to our localized peace engagement. As such, we continuously call upon the remnants of the CPP-NPA who are still in hiding, to lay down their arms, answer our call for peace and reconciliation and return to the folds of the law while they still have the opportunity,” Lt Gen Arevalo concluded.
