ILOILO – An alleged member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) from Capiz voluntarily surrendered to the Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion (61IB).
Lieutenant Colonel Joel Benedict Batara, 61IB Commanding Officer, identified the surrenderrer as a certain “Rudy,” a member of Front 15, Eastern Front, Komiteng Rehiyon-Panay of the communist-terrorist group.
Batara said Rudy voluntarily surrendered without a firearm to the 61IB in coordination with the Philippine National Police and barangay officials on Nov. 5.
“False promises and unbearable hardships inside the armed group forced alias Rudy to surrender,” Batara added, as he called on the remaining members of the communist-terrorist group to do the same for them to save their lives and future from the destructive armed struggle.
“Rudy is right in saying that armed revolution is not a solution to all of your problems. Armed struggle has claimed many innocent lives including those who pursue this terroristic activity. Don’t allow this misfortune to happen for you still have time to start a new and normal life,” he said.
With Rudy’s surrender, the 61IB has now a total of 12 rebel returnees for this year alone.
A certain “Den-Den,” a member of Southern Front, Komiteng Rehiyon-Panay from the 1st District here, is one of the most recent surrenderers of the 61IB. He yielded a firearm last Oct. 16.(With a report from PIA/PN)
