SUPPORTING THE GOV'T. National Security Adviser and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict vice-chairman Hermogenes Esperon (right) joins Anne Margarette Tauli, a member of the Executive Committee and former Secretary of the Regional White Area Committee of the Ilocos-Cordillera Regional Committee (ICRC) who surrendered to the government. Tauli and two of her friends flew with military and police officials from Besao, Mountain Province to Baguio where she met with Esperon and Cordillera Peace and Order Council chairman Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong. (PNA photo by Liza T. Agoot)
BAGUIO CITY – A high ranking official of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) has surrendered to the government to start a normal life, National Security Adviser Secretary Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. said on Thursday.
Esperon said Anne Margarette Tauli, a member of the Executive Committee and former Secretary of the Regional White Area Committee of the Ilocos-Cordillera Regional Committee (ICRC) voluntarily yielded to authorities last Thursday in Kin-iway, Besao, Mountain Province.
In the communist movement, Tauli provides shelter to high-ranking officers of the CPP-NPA-NDF during their stay in Baguio, Esperon said.
Tauli helped Julius Soriano Giron, CPP-NPA Military Commissioner, and his two companions, who were later killed in a firefight with government forces on March 13 in Baguio after resisting arrest.
Esperon, who is also vice-chairman of the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), said Tauli’s surrender was facilitated by her sister, former UN Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, and 503rd Infantry Brigade (503rd IB) led by Brig. Gen. Henry Doyaoen under the 5th Infantry Division (5ID) of the Philippine Army and the Police Regional Office Cordillera (PROCOR) led by Brig. Gen. R’Win Pagkalinawan.
"This is a sign that the more than 50 years of nonsense armed struggle is nearing closure," Esperon said.
Esperon said members of the CPP-NPA-NDF who want to embrace the law are afforded assistance but the government is also always ready to counter the atrocities perpetrated by enemies of the government.
Esperon was with Cordillera Regional Peace and Order Council chairman and Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong when the PNP and the Philippine Army in the Cordillera formally turned over Tauli to the government.
Tauli and two of her friends flew with the officials from Besao, Mountain Province to Baguio to meet with Esperon and Magalong.
She will be assessed for availing of the benefits under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).
In a media statement, Tauli said she came forward to clean her name and have a peaceful life.
Government officials have reiterated their call to the NPA rebels to surrender and abandon their lost cause. (PNA)
