President’s treat: Ex-rebels ready for HK holiday
MANILA TOUR Members of the communist New People’s Army who surrendered earlier in Davao City are met by journalists upon their arrival at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. They were scheduled to meet and dine with President Duterte later in Malacañang. —JAM STA. ROSA
DAVAO CITY — The government is helping process the passports and other travel documents of about 90 female former communist rebels who had been promised a trip to Hong Kong by President Duterte after their surrender, a military spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Maj. Ezra Balagtey of the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command said the date had yet to be set for the trip, which, he stressed, was a way for the government to “reintegrate the former enemies of the state to mainstream society.”
The women were among the 683 members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) who had earlier surrendered and whom the President had earlier met in Davao City.
Dinner in Malacañang
They later dined with Mr. Duterte in Malacañang during a military-sponsored trip to Manila last month.
On Feb. 7, when he met with some of the former rebels in Malacañang, the President asked them about going to Hong Kong, one of China’s special administrative regions.
“You want to go to Hong Kong? All my female soldiers who fought in Marawi, from the police and the military, I sent them to Hong Kong for a vacation. And it may be the same for you,” he said.
Mr. Duterte praised the surrendered rebels, saying they made a good decision because the NPA was fighting for a dying and flawed cause.
Changes adopted by China
He said the Hong Kong trip was aimed at showing the former rebels the changes adopted by China, which previously inspired Maoist insurgents in the Philippines and other countries.
He said communism was no longer relevant as major former communist powers, such as Russia and China, “embraced capitalism and became successful.”
The President, known for cracking jokes, said male rebels could also join the Hong Kong trip but they had to take a military aircraft.
“When you’re up in the air above the China Sea, I’ll tell the Air Force to throw you out of the plane,” he said in jest.
