16 NPAs, 20 supporters surrender in Sultan Kudarat – BusinessWorld Online
COTABATO CITY — Sixteen members of the New People’s Army (NPA) and 20 of their supporters, who collected food and money from hapless villagers, surrendered in the seaside Lebak town in Sultan Kudarat on Saturday.
Local executives told reporters on Monday that all 36 agreed to surrender through the joint intercession of senior members of the Lebak Municipal Peace and Order Council, officials of the Army’s 57th Infantry Battalion (IB) led by Lt. Col. Aeron T. Gumabao and their immediate superior, Brig. Gen. Michael A. Santos, the commander of the 603rd Infantry Brigade.
Major Gen. Donald M. Gumiran, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID), said the group first turned over to the 57th IB their assault rifles, shotguns, 40-millimeter grenade launchers, pistols and home-made explosives before they pledged allegiance to the government in the presence of local officials, among them Lebak Mayor Frederick F. Celestial.
The symbolic surrender rite was held in Barangay Salangsang in Lebak, attended by barangay officials and traditional community leaders from across Lebak, a coastal town in Sultan Kudarat.
More than 400 members of the NPA had surrendered in batches, since 2023, to different units of 6th ID in Central Mindanao and to officials of the regional offices of the police in the Bangsamoro region and in Administrative Region 12. — John Felix M. Unson
