INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
DAVAO CITY – Nine alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) surrendered to the Army in Sultan Kudarat on Saturday evening, a military official said.
Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, commander of the 33rd Infantry Battalion, said the NPA members surrendered in Barangay Malegdeg, Senator Ninoy Aquino town.
Cabunoc said one of the rebels identified only as Buloy was believed to be an explosives expert.
The rebels handed over six explosives, medical equipment and other materials.
At least 30 members of the NPA’s Guerrilla Front 73 have surrendered to government forces since May this year, the military said.
Cabunoc said that the “influx of surrenderees is the outcome of an effective collaboration between the military and the civil authorities in addressing social issues that lead lumads to join the NPA.”
The surrender of the alleged bomb maker came amid a raging debate between the government and the communist movement on the use of explosives.
The government is saying that the NPA’s use of explosives violated international laws.
On the other hand, the National Democratic Front is asserting that they use command-detonated explosives that are not banned. What international treaties prohibit are victim-triggered explosives, it claims.
The military says the use of explosives should be stopped. /cbb