TUGUEGARAO CITY –– A 79-year-old man, claiming to be a squad leader of the New People’s Army, faced the media on Thursday (Mar. 12) after surrendering to the Cagayan provincial government in Santo Niño town, a belated report says.
After a 40-year stint, Loreto Diliggon Ventura, a native of Maab-abaca village in Ilocos Norte’s Piddig town, said he gave up after being abandoned in a hut at Lagum village, where he had been recuperating from an ailment.
Ventura claimed he joined the rebels while he was in his 30s, and had been able to raise three children with his wife, Grace.
He turned over an M-16 Armalite rifle, a Carbine rifle, a caliber 45 handgun, assorted bullets, improvised explosive devices, and anti-government documents.
He initially received P20,000 financial assistance from the Cagayan provincial government./lzb