CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Five members of the New People’s Army (NPA) have surrendered in Bukidnon, bringing along with them assorted high-powered firearms, a belated military report reaching here Wednesday said.
Lt. Erwin P. Bugarin, 8th Infantry Battalion spokesperson, said the communist rebels yielded at the headquarters of the 8th IB in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon last Monday.
The military did not identify the surrenderees.
Bugarin said the five NPA rebels surrendered through the efforts of the civilian residents and the local government unit of Impasug-ong, three days after one of the suspects in the killing of Impasug-ong Mayor Mario Okinlay was killed in a firefight with government troopers last Friday.
He said the NPA surrenderees would undergo rehabilitation and will be given livelihood through the government’s “arms to farm” program to help them start anew.
He said the surrenderees can also avail of benefits under the Comprehensive Livelihood Integration Program (CLIP), where each gun surrendered is given a cash equivalent.
According to Bugarin, the military always welcomes any rebel who wants to return to the fold of the law.
He said that “nothing is too late for any rebel who wished to surrender and wants to return to mainstream society because the government would always be around to assist them at all times.” CD/PNA-northboundasia.com