3 ex-NPA members yield to military in Samar province

TACLOBAN CITY –– Three former members of the New People’s Army (NPAs) surrendered separately to authorities in Samar province.

In Eastern Samar, “Ayot” or “Rex,” 42, surrendered on May 8 to Captain Marval Diaz, officer-in-charge of the 801st Maneuver Company of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion based in Arteche town.

The former rebel reportedly served as a revolutionary tax collector and mass base organizer.

He surrendered a caliber-357 pistol with five live ammunition.

In Northern Samar, two rebels, identified as “Arnel,”51; and alias “Aries,” 43, surrendered to personnel of the 1st Northern Samar Provincial Public Safety Provincial Mobile Force Company headed by Police Major Edwin Oloan, Jr.

The two turned over an M16A1 rifle with one magazine and 30 live ammunition; one caliber-45 pistol with one magazine, and seven live ammunition.

Lt. Col. Ma. Bella Rentuaya, information officer of the Eastern Visayas police, said 65 former rebels have surrendered to various police offices across the region this year.

Eastern Visayas has been saddled with the insurgency, considered one of the reasons why many people in the region remain poor.

LZB