4 NPA leaders yield in Tabuk City, Isabela

By Leander C. Domingo\

CAMP MELCHOR DELA CRUZ, Isabela – Two high-ranking personalities of Komiteng Larangang Guerilla-Baggas, Ilocos-Cordillera Regional Committee have surrendered to the 50th IB in Tabuk City, Kalinga province, said Maj. Jekyll Julian Dulawan, Army 5th Infantry Division public affairs officer.
    Alias Brix and Alias Maxine decided to return to the folds of the law since the group has been demoralized after successive losses and debacles of the rebel movement, Dulawan said.
    Meanwhile, local supporters of the communist New People's Army (NPA) have turned over their firearms following the surrender of two high ranking NPA rebels to the Army's Fifth Infantry Division (5th ID) based in Camp Melchor Dela Cruz, Isabela, according to Dulawan, 5th ID public affairs officer.
    In a report released on Tuesday, Dulawan said Alias Rence and Alias Maki, both members of the Militia ng Bayan, handed over an M16 rifle and an M16A rifle to the 5th ID's 98 Infantry Battalion (IB) in Sitio Nursery, Barangay Disulap in San Mariano town.
    Also in Barangay Ditarum in Divilacan town, residents turned over two M16 rifles and two bandoliers owned by the NPA rebels.
Maj. Gen. Laurence Mina, 5th ID commander, said troops were conducting  aggressive military operations to end the local communist armed conflict both in Cagayan Valley and in Cordillera.
    Mina said support and cooperation of the people are the vital factors that will put an end to the insurgency.
    "The different government agencies exert efforts to bring the services and projects to the people, especially those who were previously influenced by NPAs. We are certainly closer to our goal of having an insurgency-free country," he said.