By Jennifer P. Rendon
After years of supporting the New People’s Army, 26 persons from the Iloilo province have flipped to the government.
The 26 persons – 13 from Janiuay town, 7 from Lambunao, and 6 from Calinog – swore their allegiance to the government following the formal presentation to their respective Municipal Task Force-End Local Communist Armed Conflict (MTF-ELCAC) groups.
They formalized their surrender on April 17, 2021 in a short program at the 12th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Camp Ceferino Carreon, Barangay Libot, Calinog.
Lieutenant Colonel Jayson Joseph Estrada, 12th IB commander, said most of the militias also surrendered their firearms, including homemade 12-gauge shotguns.
The Militia ng Bayan is considered a force multiplier and sometimes acts as part time NPA armed members.
They support the regular NPA members by providing them with additional manpower, information, food and other logistics.
The mass base supporters are those who support the NPAs by providing them with temporarily shelter, if needed.
“With their surrender, the NPA’a operations on those areas would be crippled since they were withdrawn with mass-based support. Wala nang tumutulong sa kanila in terms of logistics, pagbibigay ng information, at maging pagpapa-armas,” Estrada said.
He claimed that the surrenderers are part of the barangay-based group organized by the NPA to strengthen their logistics and feed the rebels with information about the presence of government forces.
Meanwhile, Colonel Gilbert Gorero, Iloilo police chief, said militias will be taken with their judicial affidavits.
A deliberation would also be done if they are qualified to avail of the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive and Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).
“If they are with us, the lesser the individuals who are against us. This is a good development, as far as our campaign against insurgence is concerned,” he said.
Still, Gorero believed in the importance of a two-pronged approach in dealing with insurgence: the iron-hand, which is about law enforcement, and the soft-hand or the localized peace talks.
He revealed that Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. would soon issue an executive order for local chief executives in the province to create their own peace panel.
Gorero believed that this could be a big step for the surrender and re-integration of rebels to mainstream society.
