8 Reds, including 2 minors, surrender in Quezon

December 13, 2019

Eight alleged members of communist New People's Army (NPA), including two minors, surrendered to government forces in Quezon province on Thursday, a military spokesman said Friday.

Maj. Marco Antonio Magisa, Army's 2nd Infantry Division Civil Military Operations officer, said the rebels surrendered to the combined Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) elements at General Nakar, Quezon.

"After negotiations, the former rebels turned-over two shotguns as well as one Cal .45 and Cal .38 pistols to the security forces," he said.

Quoting Col. Alex Rillera, commander of the 202nd Infantry Brigade, Magisa said one of the minors is a 13-year-old boy while the other is a 17-year-old who was forced to join the underground movement when he was still 15 years old.

"Per the military’s records, the two minors are the fourth and fifth child-warriors to be rescued in less than two months," he said.

"The names of the minors and the regular NPA fighters who surrendered are being withheld in accordance to existing laws of the land to protect not only their privacy but also to ensure their security against possible NPA aggressive actions following their surrender and turn over of firearms," he added.

Magisa said the child-warriors will be brought to the attention of the Department of Social Welfare and Develooment for proper disposition and professional attention so that the victims could "quickly recover from the physical and psychological trauma that they suffered after being forced to carry arms despite their innocence."

"The former rebels will be processed for enrolment to the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program or E-CLIP where they are expected to receive financial and other forms of assistance amounting to almost Php700,000 each to help them start a normal life," he said.

Under E-CLIP, each former rebel is expected to receive the initial P65,000, representing the immediate and livelihood assistance from the government which are on top of the housing, employment, health care and scholarship benefits which they can avail after satisfying the requirements set forth by the program. Robina Asido/DMS