BUTUAN CITY – A squad leader of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) has surrendered to the Agusan del Sur Police Provincial Office (ADSPPO), a regional police official said Thursday.
Brigadier Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr., Director of the Police Regional Office in Caraga (PRO-13), identified the surrenderer only as “Tero,” a squad leader under the NPA's Sub-Regional Committee 3, North Central Mindanao Regional Committee.
“He surrendered due to exhaustion and exploitation while with the NPA in the mountains. He also longed to return to his family and community,” Caramat said in a statement Thursday.
Tero, whose NPA unit operates in the hinterlands of Agusan del Sur, yielded to ADSPPO Wednesday.
Caramat said a number of Tero's colleagues in the same rebel unit had already surrendered earlier.
Based on his revelations, Tero said he was recruited to the NPA in 2016 and was promoted as a squad leader the following year.
“To the remaining NPA rebels in the Caraga Region, do not let rebellion take your life. I urge you to follow the decision of Tero,” 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 National Democratic Front has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)
