DAVAO CITY?It was an excellent year for the military?s anti-insurgency campaign in southern Mindanao and in some parts of central Mindanao, a regional military spokesperson said Friday.

Capt. Emmanuel Garcia, of the 10th Infantry Division, said without the use of force, 289 communist rebels and 24 Moro Islamic Liberation Front members have surrendered from January to December last year.

Thirteen of these rebels were minors and 29 were women, said Garcia.

They also gave up 50 firearms, he added.

The number of rebels who surrendered, he said, accounted for 11.5 percent of some 2,000 rebels who surrendered last year.

Majority of the former rebels have since availed themselves of government assistance, Garcia said.

The identities of some of those who surrendered, he said, are still being verified.

During the 41st founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Jorge Madlos, Mindanao spokesperson of the National Democratic Front, belittled the government?s anti-insurgency campaign, adding that the NPA remained strong. Dennis Santos, Inquirer Mindanao