5 NPA rebels surrender in Sultan Kudarat

ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat — Five suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA), including a lumad minor, surrendered to the military in Senator Ninoy Aquino town in Sultan Kudarat over the weekend.

Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, 33rd Infantry Battalion commander, identified those who surrendered as Ome Digan, Adot Digan, Eson Digan, Misuari Digan and a 16-year-old boy identified only as Matanggol.

Cabunoc said the surrenderers were members of the Dulangan Manobo tribal group who are residents of a hinterland village in Barangay Midtungok in Senator Ninoy Aquino town.

The former NPA rebels belonged to the NPA Guerrilla Front under a certain Commander Macmacang operating in the province of Sultan Kudarat.

The former rebels yielded a Garand, a Carbine and an M-79 grenade launcher.

They claimed that failed promises by the NPA local leadership to get back the land owned by their ancestors, which were occupied by agro-industrial companies, had prompted them to return to the fold of the law.

They said the NPA promised them to retrieve their ancestral lands once they joined the NPA, the armed-wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Cabunoc said the surrenderers will be turned over to Senator Ninoy Aquino Mayor Randy Ecija, who vowed to provide them livelihood assistance.

He urged other tribal group members who were recruited by the NPA to avail of the government’s reconciliation process and return to mainstream society.