CTG member surrenders to Cagayan town police

LAL-LO, Cagayan: Unable to bear the suffering and mental anguish, a member of the communist terrorist group (CTG) whose identity has been withheld for security reason, voluntarily surrendered to authorities on February 13, a Philippine National Police (PNP) station here revealed on Saturday, February 17.

The CTG member was identified only as alias Nida, 54 years old, farmer, native of Ifugao and has been a resident of Lal-lo, Cagayan.

Records from the Cagayan provincial police office also confirmed that Nida joined the Kilusang Banaue Ifugao group in 1986 and was issued a carbine firearm.

Police said Nida also admitted that their group operated in the mountainous area in Ifugao and encountered government troops where he sustained injuries.

Nida said joining the CTG was difficult and that is why “I decided to surrender to the police in Lal-lo town.”

Authorities stated that the continued intensification of the campaign against insurgency in accordance with Executive Order 70 that created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, “the number of remaining members of leftist groups who voluntarily return to the fold of law continues to increase.”

On Thursday, the Philippine Army and PNP officers presented to the office of Gov. Manuel Mamba recovered high-caliber guns belonging to the NPA rebels in the town of Rizal in Cagayan.

Police said three other rebels who earlier surrendered have helped authorities discover more firearms used by rebel groups in Cagayan province.