BAGUIO CITY – Some twenty six members of the New Peoples Army (NPA) were arrested while some two hundred ten others surrendered to authorities in the different parts of the cordillera over the past three years.
Based on the data obtained from the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC), there were 11 rebels who were arrested by virtue of warrants of arrest for rebellion or insurrection, 79 others surrendered and 41 members of communist front organizations withdrew their support to the insurgency movement in 2022. There were also 31 assorted firearms and 14 various explosives that were surrendered during the said year.
Further, 14 assorted firearms were also surrendered to the concerned authorities while there were 6 rebel encampments that were discovered that resulted in the recovery of 4 assorted firearms and 29 assorted explosives.
In 2023, 7 rebels were arrested by virtue of warrants of arrest for rebellion aid insurrection, 62 others surrendered to authorities while there were 20 members of communist front organizations who withdrew their support to the insurgency movement. There were also some 72 assorted firearms and 6 various explosives were also surrendered.
Moreover, some 19 rebel encampments were discovered during the said period that resulted in the recovery of 11 assorted firearms and 56 different explosives aside from 268 assorted ammunitions and subversive documents.
In 2024, eight rebels were arrested by virtue of warrants of arrest for rebellion or insurrection, three others were captured, 79 insurgents surrendered while 45 members of communist front organizations withdrew their support to the insurgency movement. There were some 57 assorted firearms and 26 assorted explosives that were also surrendered during the said year.
Subsequently, there were some 9 rebel encampments that were discovered that resulted in the recovery of 8 assorted firearms, 42 explosives, 309 assorted ammunitions aside from several subversive documents.
From January to March this year, there were 10 rebels who reportedly surrendered, 2 members of communist front organizations who withdrew their support to the insurgency movement while there were 4 assorted firearms that were surrendered. There was also one rebel encampment that was discovered that resulted to the recovery of medical supplies and reference materials.
On the status of cases from January 2022 to present, there were some 17 cases that were filed before the prosecutor’s office where 9 cases were dismissed, 1 archived, 5 are undergoing trial while 2 were resolved resulting to their dismissal.
On the atrocities perpetrated by the threat groups, 2 are murder, 3 ae violation of the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2 are rebellion, 1 is violation of RA 9851 or the International Humanitarian law, 1 is for violation of 9516 while 8 others were in their attempted or frustrated stages.
The RTF-ELCAC claimed that all the perpetrated incidents were done by the communist rebels where armed encounters recorded the highest with 8 incidents followed by 1 incident each for ambush and checkpoint. By Dexter A. See
