DUMAGUETE CITY — The Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office reported that a member of the Communist New People's Army surrendered to authorities and yielded a firearm and explosives in Ayungon, Negros Oriental on Tuesday.
NOPPO spokesperson Lt. Stephen Polinar on Wednesday said the former rebel — whose name has been withheld for security reasons — is from Sitio Pisok, Barangay Buenavista in Himamaylan, Negros Occidental.
He added that the insurgent surrendered to the 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company in Barangay Carol-an, Ayungon and handed over a short firearm with live rounds of ammunition, a hand grenade and three other pieces of explosives.
He is now in the custody of the 2nd PMFC and will be turned over to the Philippine Army for proper disposition and facilitation for possible government assistance under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program.
Previously, five NPA rebels have surrendered while various firearms were recovered amid intensified operations by government forces in the regions of Caraga and Northern Mindanao over the weekend.
"We express our commitment to further foster peacebuilding and developmental efforts in Northern Mindanao and Caraga regions," Maj. Gen. Jose Maria Cuerpo II, the Philippine Army's 4th Infantry Division commander, said in a statement.
In Northern Mindanao, Cuerpo said an operation conducted by the Army's 1st Special Forces Battalion at Barangay Mampayag in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon province, resulted in the surrender of five NPA rebels, including the vice commander of NPA headquarters Neo under the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee.
The surrenderers also handed over to the Army two AK-47 rifles, two M16 rifles, and an M14 rifle.
In the Caraga region, a 20-minute skirmish erupted in Barangay Sta. Cruz in Sibagat, Agusan del Sur during a patrol operation conducted by the Army's 65th Infantry Battalion, leading to the seizure of an AK-47 rifle, an M16 rifle, backpacks, and assorted ammunition.
