34 rebs surrender as Army pushes offensives in Cotabato

ARAKAN, NORTH COTABATO—Thirty-four communist rebels surrendered to the military this week, ahead of the expected resumption of peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Lt. Col. Ehrlich Noel Paraso, commander of the Army’s 19th Infantry Battalion, said this was the biggest number of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels to surrender in the town, although only two of them had turned over their firearms.

Paraso said the surrender, which was facilitated by rebel returnees, came amid the intensified military offensives in remote villages of Arakan and other communities in North Cotabato province. —EDWIN FERNANDEZ