MATI CITY – Another former commander of New People’s Army (NPA) voluntarily surrendered without firearms on Thursday, October 11, 2012 to City Mayor Michelle Rabat.
Initial interview reveals that Ricardo Lucnod went on lie-low sometime on August 2012 and decided to return to the mainstream due to hardship and sickness when he was still with NPA.
“There were 24 rebels who surrendered during the first quarter while a total of 56 yielded on the second quarter of this year alone”, said Col. Rey Leonardo Guerrero, commander of 701st Infantry Brigade stationed in Mati City. A total of 80 former rebels who surrendered in the Province of Davao Oriental alone where already included in the Comprehensive Local Integration Program (CLIP) of the Local and Provincial Government intended for former rebels, Col. Guerrero disclosed.
“The Government is preparing programs to reintegrate all former rebels back to their respective families. Those programs intend to prepare them to start a new life together with their family,” he added.
The said rebels already received a livelihood check with a total amounting to almost P4 million on top of various skills training and initial immediate assistance from the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) and National and Provincial Government this year.
“For this year alone, several former members and commanders of NPA operating in this Province and in the region surrendered seeing the sincerity of the Government in winning the peace. Lucnod will also be included on the Integration Program initiated by our Government through CLIP,” Col. Guerrero said.
Lt. Col. Lyndon Paniza, spokesperson of 10th Infantry Division also said, the highest form of reduction on the force of the criminal group NPA is through the surrender of its members. He added that in the span of six years, from August 2006 to July this year, the number of rebel returnee in the 10ID AOR (R-XI and SOCSARGEN) soared up to 1,027 already. “Almost sixty percent of these surrendered from August 2010 to July this year”, he added.
He said the number of rebel returnees manifests the efficacy of the Philippine Army’s Peace and Development Outreach Programs where the continuous efforts of Peace and Development Teams (PDTs), together with the Local Government Units (LGUs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), to reach out to communities played a vital role in showing former rebels that they can start a new life for their family if they go back to the mainstream.
(With reports by: Becky D. de Asis & IPIDNews)