24 rebels surrender to army in Negros Oriental

BACOLOD CITY: At least 24 insurgents from the New People’s Army (NPA) have surrendered to elements of the 62nd Infantry Battalion (62IB) of the Philippine Army in Negros Oriental last Wednesday, 62IB commander, Lt. Col. Melvin Flores,however refused to identify the surrenderees. According to Flores, two NPA insurgents belonging to the Leonardo Panaligan Command based in Central Negros yielded to the 62IB in Guihulngan City on August 21, and 24. This was quickly followed by a mass surrender of 22 other rebels, whom he desribed as physically tired, and hungry. One of the rebels, who identified himself as “Ka Motmot” stated that he had become disillusioned over the false promises and heavy workload given to him by his rebel higher ups. Motmot also revealed that the final straw came when his fellow rebels killed his own brother due to false allegations against him. He further admitted that he was one of the rebels involved in a clash with government forces last August 14 in the city’s Barangay Sandayao, wherein he confirmed that several of his colleagues were wounded in the gun battle.