7 suspected NPA members in Leyte, Samar give up arms

TACLOBAN CITY –– At least seven suspected New People’s Army (NPA) members have surrendered to the government in Leyte and Samar provinces during the week.

In Hilongos, Leyte, six rebels surrendered to the 14th Infantry Battalion, while another yielded to the police in Paranas town, Samar.

The 24-year old rebel in Samar, a militia member, yielded a caliber .38 revolver and six ammunition.

He is now under the custody of the 802nd Maneuver Company in Paranas.

The six other rebels who surrendered claimed that difficulties living in the mountains and the threat to their lives were why they decided to give up their struggle and return to the fold of the law.

They said they also were involved in the killing on Aug. 15, 2019, of Vergilio Loquias, the former village chair of San Antonio, Hilongos, and the murder in the early 1980s of 36 government informants under the “Operation Venereal Disease.”

Col. Dela Rosa, whose headquarters is based in Mahaplag town, in Leyte, lauded the decision of the former rebels to surrender to the government.

“We pay tribute to the courage and perseverance of these individuals against the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front,” he said.

“I hope that our brothers and sisters who continue to use violence against the government will give up while it is not too late,” Dela Rosa added.

LZB