SURRENDER. Ka Gorio, a mass organizer of the communist New People's Army, stands ready to turn over his firearm to officials of the Army’s 38th Infantry Battalion in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat before his surrender on Sunday (Jan. 24, 2021). The surrenderer said he just wanted to be with his family once more after being duped into joining the futile communist movement several years ago. (Photo courtesy of 6ID)
CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – A mass organizer of the communist New People’s Army has yielded to the military in Sultan Kudarat province, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID) said Monday.
Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, the 6ID commander, only identified the surrenderer as a certain “Gorio” due to security reasons.
He said Gorio is an organizer-leader of the Kisasabanay Dulangan Manobo (Kiduma) and a former member of Platoon Telego, NPA Guerrilla Front 73 under the Far South Mindanao Region.
“He voluntarily yielded to the Army’s 38th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat,” Uy told reporters here in an interview.
He said the former NPA member also turned over an M1A Garand rifle, six magazine clips, 43 rounds of ammunition, and one bandolier to the military following his surrender on Sunday.
“The heightened military operation against the NPA had forced him to abandon his group and return to the folds of the law,” Uy added.
The surrenderer, when asked by reporters said he just wanted to be with his family again. “I miss my family very much. I will never leave them again,” he said in the vernacular.
Uy said the surrenderer will be enrolled in the government’s Enhanced-Comprehensive Local Integration Program for former rebels for livelihood opportunities with the help of the Palimbang local government unit.
The NPA, together with the Communist Party of the Philippines and National Democratic Front, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)
