The 10th Infantry Division (10th ID) bared on Wednesday, July 24, that a considerable number of rebels has yielded to the folds of the government during the first three years of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term.
10th ID spokesperson captain Jerry Lamosao, during the weekly AFP-PNP Press Corps media briefing held at the Hari Hall of the Royal Mandaya Hotel, said from June of 2016 to date, a total of 1,467 New People’s Army (NPA) regular, 1,185 Militia ng Bayan (MB), 363 Sangay sa Partido Lokalidad (SPL), 7,396 supporters, and 94 left leaning organization (LLO) individuals surrendered within that period.
Aside from that, the 10th ID or commonly known as the Agila Division also said a total of 361 high power firearms (HPFA) and 541 low power firearms (LPFA) were turned over along with 804 improvised explosive devices (IED).
“We also recovered a total of 572 HPFA and 186 LPFA, and have discovered 550 enemy camps with the AOR of 10th ID,” he said.
The military also revealed that 146 NPA regulars were killed during encounter with the forces of the government while 35 MBs were apprehended.
These development, said Lamosao, were recorded during the watch of president Duterte, who initiated the first-ever settlement project for rebels to return to the mainstream society.
The settlement project was highlighted by National Housing Authority (NHA) Freedom Residences, a housing project for surrenderees nestled at Barangay Cuambogan, Tagum City in Davao del Norte. It goes with livelihood training seminars and programs, and health care services for former rebels.
“Big thing ang mga tabang gi-offer sa government para sa mga NPA,” he said.
Lamosao also commended the community support, citing that from 2017, more than 80 percent of the surrenderees turned themselves in various Local Government Units (LGU)s.
