A flag bearing the logo of the NPA was recovered in an encounter. (File photo from the Philippine Army)
MANILA, Philippines — Ten “hard-core members” of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, surrendered to Brig. Gen. Jonnel Estomo, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), in a program at Barangay Payatas in Quezon City.
Estomo said the 10 former rebels sent surrender feelers way back when he was the regional director of the Bicol Police Regional Office, “but their enthusiasm was temporarily abated when he transferred” to the NCRPO in August.
Estomo called on other communist rebels to turn themselves in to the authorities and assured them that necessary assistance would be provided to them.
—DEXTER CABALZA
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