The military has bared that 291 members of the New People’s Army surrendered to the different units of the Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) during the last five months.
Lt. Col. Ezra Balagtey, EastMinCom spokesperson, said the surrender came about as the military “did not let down the guard especially in protecting the community against terror.”
Others who surrendered were 161 members of Militia ng Bayan, 562 who withdrew their support from National Democratic Front, and 25 party members of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
The units also recovered 179 firearms through operations, 177 surrendered firearms.
The operations also resulted in the death of 53 rebels.
The military unit, Balagtey said, has continued to support the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) program and the initiatives in the communities.
“With COVID-19 the units are active in supporting the local government units and during the distribution of Social Amelioration Program the units coordinated with the (Department of) Social and Welfare and Development in the distribution (process),” he added as he pointed out that the command has remained COVID-19 Free.
“We are happy to know that our soldiers, airman, sailors and marines deployed in Eastern Mindanao command are still COVID-free despite that many of our troops are deployed in the frontlines to help fight against pandemic,” Balagtey said
He added that in the camps there are measures that are adopted to prevent the spread of virus.
“We are doing all the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the virus in our area,” he further added.
