Image courtesy of PRO-13 Information Office
BUTUAN CITY – A female recruiter and health officer of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) operating in Surigao del Sur in the last six years recently surrendered to authorities in Agusan del Norte, a police official said Friday.
Maj. Dorothy Tumulak, information officer of the Police Regional Office in Caraga (PRO-13), said alias “Ason”, of Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao del Sur, gave herself up to the Cabadbaran City police on Wednesday.
“Ason surrendered in Cabadbaran City with the help of former rebels. She has been an active NPA recruiter for more than six years in Surigao del Sur,” Tumulak said.
She said the surrenderer used to work under the Sandatahang Yunit Pampropaganda, Guerrilla Front 19, of the NPA’s Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee.
Tumulak said Ason's surrender was the result of the continuing efforts of PRO-13 to end the local communist armed conflict in the region.
“The surrender of Ason will greatly affect the recruitment activities of the NPA in Surigao del Sur and other parts of Caraga Region,” she said.
In a statement, Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr. the PRO-13 director, said Ason has been an active NPA guerrilla since November 2015, operating in the mountainous area of Diatagon in Lianga town and other parts of Surigao del Sur.
“She renounced her commitment from being a rebel after realizing the deceptions and lies. She has awakened to the sincerity of the government in providing support to rebels who would wish to change their lives peacefully,” Caramat said.
He added that PRO-13 will continue to work to defeat the insurgency, alongside the directives of Philippine National Police chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos to strengthen the fight against the communist insurgency in the country.
Ason will undergo processes and assessments for her enrollment to the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program of the government, Caramat said.
The Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the National Democratic Front as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973. (PNA)
