A New People’s Army (NPA) couple surrendered to the 8th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Poblacion, Impasugong, Bukidnon on Tuesday, June 25.
Alias Jomel and his wife, Jelyn, surrendered to Lt. Col. Ronald Illana, the 8th IB commander. Jomel, 23, was the team leader of ABE Squad 1, Staff Platoon, Sentro de Gravidad, Sub-regional Command 2, Northern Central Mindanao Regional Command.
Meanwhile, his wife is a medic of the same group and both are residents of Barangay Kalabugao, Impasugong.
“We wanted to live in peace and have a family, we could not bear that our children will be experiencing the same struggle that we’re facing,” Jomel said.
He said they were already discouraged after seeing most of their friends surrender. Also, they realized the futility of the struggle, especially since they could see the sincerity of the government in reaching out to the far-flung communities and help improve the lives of the people.
“By and large, our brothers and sisters who are the victims of deception are starting to see the reality of the CPP-NPA terrorist’s ideologies,” Illana said.
“Through the launch of the E-CLIP (Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program) for the former rebels, the number of surrendering victims of the CPP-NPA has fortunately increased to our advantage,” he further said.
