2 recruiters of NPA cadres surrender to 6th ID
Mindanao Peace Process • 10:45 AM Sun Jan 3, 2020
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By:
John M. Unson
The former rebels Jonathan Saliling and Michael Lugko are now in the custody of the 6th Infantry Division. (From 7th IB, via 6th ID Public Affairs Office)
SULTAN KUDARAT --- Two more senior New People’s Army guerillas pledged allegiance to the government Friday and promised to help urge active comrades to surrender, the military said Sunday.
The duo, Jonathan Saliling and Michael Lugko, yielded to the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion under the 601st Brigade after learning that local executives in Sultan Kudarat’s adjoining Senator Ninoy Aquino, Isulan and Esperanza towns are now helping the military identify NPAs operating in barangays under their jurisdiction.
Saliling and Lugko also turned over an M14 assault rifle each to Lt. Col. Romel Valencia, 7th IB’s commanding officer, during a simple rite at the battalion’s headquarters in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.
Sultan Kudarat’s provincial police director, Col. Noel Kinazo, and senior members of different municipal peace and order councils in the province said Saliling and Lugko are ranking henchmen of Arturo Arsigan, an official of the NPA’s self-styled East Daguma Front.
The sources also confirmed that Saliling and Lugko were top recruiters of NPA cadres in hinterland barangays in Sultan Kudarat province and in the towns of Surallah and Lake Sebu in nearby South Cotabato.
Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said credit for the surrender of Saliling and Lugko has to go to the local government unit of Senator Ninoy Aquino and officials of 7th IB.
"They surrendered less than a week after two other NPAs voluntarily yielded to one of our units, the 5th Special Forces Battalion, in Lake Sebu municipality in the province of South Cotabato," Uy said.
Uy said Brig. Gen. Roy Galido of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade is now working along with the local government unit of Senator Ninoy Aquino in providing Saliling and Lugko initial relief support.
The brigade shall, meantime, keep custody of Saliling and Lugko to protect them from reprisals, according to Uy.
NPA units in central Mindanao are known for attacking members who have surrendered and their relatives.