More than 7,000 NPA members have surrendered — military

A TOTAL of 7,194 New People’s Army (NPA) members and supporters have surrendered since January this year, according to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Spokesperson Edgard A. Arevalo. Three of the returnees were presented to the media at the capital on Monday, as the military revealed the communist armed group’s recent scheme of relocating members to prevent them from going back to their home communities. The three are originally from Davao but were reassigned by the NPA central committee to operate in Quirino due to the declining strength of the rebels in northern Luzon, AFP Public Affairs chief Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel R. Garcia said. The rebels are brought to different provinces “so that they will have a hard time communicating and to prevent them from returning to the communities because that is what the [NPA’s central committee] has been worrying about,” Mr. Garcia said in Filipino. — Minde Nyl R. dela Cruz