LA TRINDAD, Benguet – Three former rebels have been added in the list of surrenderees who availed of the benefits in the government’s integration program.
The surrenderees were presented in a press conference at the Police Regional Office in Camp Dangwa last Sept. 7.
PRO-Cor Regional Intelligence Division Chief, Col. Reynaldo Pasiwen, said Ka Alice, Ka Benjie, and Ka Jimmy decided to leave the underground movement due to hardship from always being on the run.
Ka Alice was recruited in 2018, first as a member of the Mountain Province Youth Alliance while she was still studying at the Mountain Province Polytechnic State College. She later joined the armed revolution and served as assistant medic and logistics officer of the Kilusang Larangang Guerilla (KLG) Ampis operating in the boundaries of Mountain Province, Ilocos Sur, and Abra.
For Ka Benjie, a chance of going back to school was what enticed him to join the Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance – a federation of progressive peoples organizations based in the Cordillera but is said to be a front organization of the New Peoples Army.
A high school dropout, he said he was recruited in 2007 when he attended the “Cordillera Day” celebration in Tucucan, Mountain Province.
Ka Benjie soon became a political instructor of KLG Marco where just like the manner by which he was recruited, he was assigned to also “entice” out-of-school youth in far-flung communities to join the NPA by offering them free education.
Ka Jimmy became a member of the KLG Guerilla in 2012 when he was only 12 years old. When he became a full time member, he completed the NPA advance course “Batayang Kursong Pangmilitar” where he was trained how to make explosives by an instructor from Mindanao.
Ka Benjie, Ka Alice, and Ka Jimmy’s surrender is the outcome of intensified operations of the PNP and concerted efforts of intelligence operatives of PRO-Cor, the Benguet Provincial Police Office with the support and intercession of their relatives. – Redjie M. Cawis
April 26, 2024
