11 Red fighters yield in SK

BAGUMBAYAN, Sultan
Kudarat – Eleven members of tribal community in a remote village
here have surrendered Wednesdayto the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion
following a dialogue involving Indigenous Peoples, local officials and tribal
leaders.

Lt. Colonel
Harold Cabunoc, commander of the 33rd Infantry Battalion, said the
surrender of 11 red fighters, including an Amazon, came after local officials
gathered tribal leaders in Barangay Sto. Nino, Bagumbayan for a dialogue.

They all belonged
to Platoon Arabo of Guerilla Front 73 of communist New Peoples Army, Cabunoc
said of the 11 surrenderees, including Tata Isil, 22, a female warrior.

He said during
the Pulong-pulong, tribal leaders aired their sentiments against the
government and the neglect they have experience thus many of them became easy
prey of communist rebels who eventually duped them.

Cabunoc explained
to tribal members of the government’s determination to help them and improve
their lives, protect their ancestral domain because it is only the government that
is capable of doing it, not the communist rebels.

Through the 'Balik
Tribo' program of the military and the local government in partnership with
Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR), parents, relatives and
local leaders of those who joined the movement were asked to convince them to
avail of government’s amnesty program.

After they
showed up to surrender, the former NPA rebels had a tearful reunion with their
loved ones who they missed for months.

It was a
teary and emotional reunion, Cabunoc said, holding his tears. I am very happy I was instrumental in the
reunion of our IP people, very touching, he added.

You will have
a very happy and very merry Christmas celebration because all family members
are here, Cabunoc said.

We spent not
a single bullet in winning the hearts of our IP people, he added of the
outreach program he described as a combination of combat and civil support operations
in the hinterlands of Bagumbayan.

Ayaw na ng
mga lumad sa mga komunista. Huwag nyo nang ipagpilitan yan, mga alipores ni
Joma! (The IPs have rejected communism, don’t force it on them Joma), he said,
addressing NDF founding chair Joma Sison.

We will
sustain this, we will continue to hold dialogues with the IPs in the hinterlands
of Sultan Kudarat to save them from the hands of terrorists, the 33rd
IB chief said.

Bagumbayan
Mayor Jonalette de Pedro lauded the Army efforts and vowed to support it all
the way.

To date, a
total of 101 indigenous peoples who joined the NPA movement have surrendered
through the efforts of the 33rd IB since May this year.

They were all
qualified to avail of the Comprehensive Local Integration Program (CLIP) of the
government through the Department of the Interior and Local Government. (Edwin
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