As the army closed in on him, the former leader of a New People’s Army (NPA) unit of the dismantled Guerilla Front 27 yielded on 17 August. His former teammates had earlier given themselves up.

In his interview, the NPA leader described the hardships he went through as he tried to elude capture without sleep and food because of the battalion’s relentless operations.

Operators of the Army’s 66th Infantry Battalion (66IB) had encountered his group several times last year at Maragusan town in Compostela Valley.

After his surrender, he revealed that improvised explosive devices (IED) were hidden in the forested area of Sitio Sabina, Barangay Camanlangan, in the town of New Bataan.

It is believed that the area was supposed to be used to set up the IEDs last March. Upon the confession of the former terrorist leader, the troops were able to capture the war material.

LtCol. Palmer Parungao of the 66IB reiterated that new life awaits NPA members who will peacefully surrender.

“There are still those who remain in the mountains and jungles because they do not know the truth of the protected peace when they surrender. Let it be known that surrender means new life for them, NPA commanders tell their people that if one surrenders, death awaits them — pure lies,” said Parungao.

In Panabo City, Davao del Norte, eight former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) who voluntarily surrendered to the 16th Infantry Battalion will undergo “de-radicalization” programs to prevent them from being lured by communist ideologies again.

Maj. Gen. Noel Clement, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division (10ID), underscored the process of de-radicalization in preparing surrenderers to return to a peaceful life.

If they do not undergo the process, Clement cautioned that the former NPA rebels may become vulnerable again to NPA recruitment “because they are still young.”

Clement presented the surrenderers to Mayor Sara Duterte on Monday at the sidelines of the turnover of command at the 16th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Barangay Dalisay.

The surrenderers are former members of the NPA’s Pulang Bagani Command (PBC) 1 operating in Davao City areas, who turned themselves in separately, Clement said.

One of them, 23-year-old Quintoy of Lumiad, Paquibato District, Davao City, said he abandoned the communist struggle after facing a difficult life with the NPA. He said finding daily food, for one, was a constant struggle.

Alfie, 30 years old, said he was a political instructor of the NPA.

Alfie said he was operating in the white area (urban center) facilitating rallies before he was finally convinced to join the NPA at 26.

Brig. Gen. Ernesto Torres, commander of the Army’s 1003rd Infantry Brigade, said there are now 172 NPA members who have surrendered to different units under his brigade within the year. Of the number, 87 were regular members of the NPA.

Aside from undergoing the de-radicalization process, Quintoy, Alfie, and the six other surrenderers were debriefed, and are undergoing skills and livelihood training. They are now completing the processes to avail of the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (e-CLIP), for which they will get P50,000 for livelihood and another P15,000 in immediate assistance.

Mayor Sara was elated many rebels had decided to come down and support the government.

The mayor said many surrenderers also came to her directly but she referred them instead to the Army battalions for faster processing of their livelihood assistance and training.