Ex-PBA star donates to ex-NPA rebels

TACURONG CITY – Former Philippine Basketball Association star Kenneth Duremdes has donated solar panels and food packages for members of indigenous tribes who have bolted the New People’s Army (NPA) in Sen. Ninoy Aquino (SNA), Sultan Kudarat. In partnership with the local government of SNA and the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion, Duremdes trekked last Wednesday to the far-flung village of Kuden in SNA to distribute a mini-solar panel that can light up the former guerillas’ homes. Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, 33rd Infantry Battalion chief, accompanied Duremdes in the humanitarian mission where they also brought food stuffs and clothes for the surrendered NPA members. The presence of Duremdes, a native of Koronadal in adjacent South Cotabato also boosted the morale of the recipient-former rebels and their indigenous families, and the soldiers who went with the mission, according to Cabunoc. (Ali G. Macabalang)