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Teen NPA fighters yield in Davao Oro

By Che Palicte

April 29, 2022, 6:04 pm

<p><strong>RESCUED YOUNG REBELS.</strong> Four teenaged New People's Army rebels surrender to the Army's 66th Infantry Battalion in Maragusan, Davao de Oro, Wednesday (April 27, 2022). Since 2016, the Army's 10th Infantry Division recorded at least 121 rescued minors from the NPA.<em> (Photo courtesy of 10ID)</em></p>

RESCUED YOUNG REBELS. Four teenaged New People's Army rebels surrender to the Army's 66th Infantry Battalion in Maragusan, Davao de Oro, Wednesday (April 27, 2022). Since 2016, the Army's 10th Infantry Division recorded at least 121 rescued minors from the NPA. (Photo courtesy of 10ID)

DAVAO CITY – Some four teenaged New People's Army (NPA) rebels have surrendered to government forces in Davao de Oro, a military official said Friday.

Capt. Mark Anthony Tito, the Army’s 10th Infantry Division spokesperson, said the surrenderers were members of NPA’s Regional Operations Command Southern Mindanao Regional Committee.

The four yielded to the Army’s 66th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Barangay Coronobe, Maragusan, Davao de Oro, Wednesday, Tito said in a statement.

Tito identified only two of the four through their aliases: Jomari,18, a squad political guide, and Vina, 19, a squad supply officer.

Following their surrender, the group assisted 66IB soldiers in locating two M16 rifles they themselves hid in Barangay Andap, New Bataan town.

Tito said the two minors were already reported to the New Bataan Municipal Social Welfare Development Office (MSWDO) for appropriate action.

Maj. Gen. Nolasco Mempin, the 10ID commander, welcomed the surrender and rescue of the minors.

"To the members of the NPA, stop exploiting the Filipino youth. Surrender now and abandon the armed struggle that victimized thousands of lives," Mempin said.

Since 2016, the 10ID recorded around 121 rescued minors being exploited by the NPA in its armed struggle.

The CPP-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 NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and separate part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973. (PNA)

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