8 REBEL RETURNEES PRESENTED TO SARA

Rebels surrendered to the government as a result of collective efforts of different sectors pushing for peace.

Eight rebel returnees were presented to Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio yesterday in Barangay Dalisay, Panabo City.

In a Facebook live of the press conference attended by the city mayor, she said the number of rebels who returned to the folds of the law is the result of the collective efforts extended by various sectors.

“Peace 911 is just one of the efforts. Also, this is the result of the collective efforts of everybody, to our barangay captain, to the local government unit through Peace 911, together with the private sector, the effort of the AFP unit operating in Paquibato,” she said.

Duterte added, “And of course ang importante ang kagustuhan nila na mag bagong buhay, magbalik loob, ang kagustuhan nila na to work with the communities, to work with the barangay, to work with the city government of Davao to improve our community for peace and development.”

Brigadier General Ernesto C. Torres Jr., commander of the 1003rd Infantry Brigade, said since January this year, they have neutralized 172 New People’s Army (NPA) rebels of which 87 were regular guerilla fighters.

They also recovered 94 different types of firearms and 56 improvised explosive devices (IED).

He added that a total of 48 barangays were cleared from insurgency attributed to the information and help provided by the surrenderees.

“Nagagawa natin yan pag clearing ng barangay sa influence ng NPA dahil sa mga tulong ng mga nag susurender sa atin through debriefing at pagbabalik loob nila na gusto na nilang makipagtulingan sa gobyerno sa mga programa na pinepresenta nga natin through our community support teams,” he said.

The AFP units will facilitate the enrollment of these surrenderees to the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-Clip) to jumpstart their integration to the mainstream society.