CALL TO SURRENDER. Maj. Gen. Pio Diñoso III, commander of the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City, Samar. On Wednesday (Nov. 6, 2019), Diñoso called on the New People’s Army operating in Samar to surrender and take advantage of benefits for rebel returnees. (Philippine Army photo)
TACLOBAN CITY -- A top military official in the region has renewed its appeal to the New People’s Army (NPA) operating in Samar to surrender and take advantage of benefits for rebel returnees or die fighting in the mountains.
“Rebel members should now surrender because the government is willing to help them live a normal life. Our government agencies have many programs that they can avail if they wish to return to the fold of the law,” Maj. Gen. Pio Diñoso III, commander of the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division, told reporters in an interview here Wednesday.
However, if the communist-terrorist group will continue fighting the government, the military has no option but to use its full force to end the insurgency.
Diñoso made the statement days after recent successful operations against the rebels in Samar provinces.
Last Oct. 16, government forces launched an airstrike, destroying a large NPA lair in Caputoan village, Las Navas, Northern Samar.
From the lair, soldiers recovered backpacks, military-type backpacks, hammocks, sacks of rice, assorted food supplies, sacks of land mines, mobile phones with chargers, an I-com radio, a laptop, a landline tester, and flash drives.
Also seized were SIM cards, external drives, assorted blasting caps, a roll of detonating wire, live ammunition, an empty magazine for carbine, improvised grenades, anti-tank land mines, assorted medical supplies, and subversive documents.
For the first time, government troops utilized the Philippine Air Force supersonic FA-50 jets to do surgical airstrikes.
“That is a stern warning for them, we will conduct airstrikes again if they will not surrender. As much as possible we want to use that as a last resort because what we really want is for them to surrender and return to the society,” Diñoso added.
On Sunday night, soldiers recovered an AK-47 rifle, two M-16 rifles, several magazines and ammunition, and two backpacks containing personal belongings, and subversive documents after a clash with 10 NPA rebels in Lim-ao village, Hinabangan, Samar.
Diñoso added that combat operations against the communist group will continue but their main activity is to prevent NPA recruitment activities, a top priority of Executive Order 70, which institutionalizes a “whole-of-nation approach” in attaining an “inclusive and sustainable peace.”
One of the major efforts is the deployment of a community support program, which hears issues and concerns of vulnerable villagers and to bring them to the attention of concerned government offices.
The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)
