Top CPP-NPA leader, wife surrender in S. Cotabato

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – A top official of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in Mindanao and his wife surrendered to the military on Monday, the commander of the 1002nd Infantry Brigade disclosed on Tuesday.

According to Col. Roberto Ancan, Noel Legazpi, deputy secretary-general of the CPP-NPA for Far South Mindanao Region (FSMR), and his wife Wendy Bandalian, who served in the NPA unit’s medical staff, turned themselves in to elements of the 27th Infantry Battalion following negotiations initiated by South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Fuentes.

Legaspi, who was also known as Ka Efren, was considered as among the top leaders of the FSMR, which operates in parts of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato, Maguindanao and Davao del Sur provinces.

Legaspi was a long-time spokesperson of the group and had granted media interviews in the past regarding NPA activities in the area.

Ancan said their surrender dealt “a big blow to the Communist underground movement in the region.”

The military official bared that Legazpi, who has been with the underground movement for 26 years, decided to return to mainstream society “after realizing that the revolutionary struggle waged by the CPP-NPA, is waning and had lost its support from its mass base.”

The former NPA leader had also told authorities that “the peace and development programs implemented by the government had benefited the marginalized people in far-flung communities.”

As such, “the mass base of the communist movement had already diminished as the marginalized sectors no longer support the NPA, the armed wing of the CPP,” Ancan quoted Legazpi as telling authorities.

The NPA used to capitalize on poverty and injustice in a bid to recruit members for the revolutionary group.

“I and my wife came to realize that the revolutionary struggle waged by the CPPNPA (is) doomed to fail,” Legazpi said.

Following the surrender of Legazpi and wife, Ancan said they now expect more NPA rebels to yield and avail of the peace and reconciliation initiatives of the government.

Fuentes assured the two NPA surrenderers of livelihood assistance under the local government’s Comprehensive Local Integration Program. (With a report from PNA)