44 communist rebels surrender to rebel-turned-mayor

Jun A. Malig

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44 communist rebels surrender to rebel-turned-mayor
Former members of the New People's Army and the breakaway Rebolusyonaryong Hukbo ng Bayan in Pampanga give up their arms

PAMPANGA, Philippines – Forty-four members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) and its breakaway faction, the Rebolusyonaryong Hukbo ng Bayan (RHB), in Santa Ana town surrendered to the new mayor, himself a former guerrilla.

The 25 NPA and 19 RHB rebels sought the help of Santa Ana Mayor Norberto Gamboa, a former three-term village chief of Barangay Santa Lucia to surrender to the government, Major Ericson Bulosan of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Civil Relations Service told Rappler. 

Gamboa, known in the underground communist movement as Ka Ross, used to be a district commander of the NPA overseeing the rebel group’s activities and operations in Arayat town in this province.

Bulosan said Gamboa and several other rebels surrendered to AFP chief of staff Ricardo Visaya in 2004, when the latter was still a lieutenant colonel and commander of the Army’s 69th Infantry Battalion based in this province.

“The rebels trust Mayor Gamboa. They know that he really wants to help them, and he was one of their own, a district commander of the NPA until he surrendered to then  Lt. Col. Ricardo Visaya, commander of the 69th Infantry Battalion, in 2004. Even when Mayor Gamboa was still a barangay captain, he had been helping rebels to return to the fold of the law,” said Bulosan, who worked under Visaya at the 69th IB here.

The rebel returnees, some of them women, were presented to Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda, Police Regional Office 3 director Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino, and officers of the AFP’s 7th Infantry Division at the executive room of the provincial capitol building here on Monday, July 18.

Joy “Ka Jeanette” Macasaquit, a former member of the RHB since 1998, said she hopes that the Duterte administration would uphold the right of the farmers to till farmlands.

She said they decided to seek Gamboa’s help to have a normal life. “Nakita po ni mayor ang sitwasyon namin at gusto rin niya na maging payapa na lang ang pamumuhay namin, kaya tinulungan niya kami.” 

Gamboa, who joined the NPA when he was only 18 years old, told Rappler that he decided to help the rebels surrender to authorities to help them with their livelihood. “Nakikita ko silang nagtitinda ng gulay at iba pang bagay, kahit maalinsangan nakatakip ang ulo nila at balot na balot ang katawan nila. Kahit madilim, naka-sunglasses. Ayaw man nilang lumantad, kailangan nilang mag-hanapbuhay para sa mga pamilya nila. Gusto kong kahit paano guminhawa ang buhay nila at makapag-hanapbuhay sila ng matiwasay at walang kinatatakutan na huliin sila ng military,” the first-term mayor said. (I would see them sell vegetables, all covered and wearing sunglasses to conceal their identities. They would rather not be seen in public but they’re forced to do so to feed their families.)

Gamboa said that even when he was still a village chief, several rebels had approached and asked his help in their surrender. “Tinulungan at patuloy tayong tinutulungan ni AFP Chief-of-Staff Ricardo Visaya sa pagbabalik-loob ng ating mga kapatid na rebelde sa pagbabalik-loob sa lipunan,” he said, adding that he expects more rebels to surrender to the government.

On the returnees’ safety, Gamboa appealed to the military to avoid turning them into intelligence agents or organizers of anti-rebel groups. They will not be harmed as long as they don’t betray the movement they once served, Gamboa said. “Hindi sila  gagalawin ng NPA at RHB kung mamumuhay lang sila ng marangal at payapa,” he said.

The mayor said he will review the finances of his municipality and find ways to provide the rebel returnees with carts for the products they sell and other means of support for their livelihood. He said Governor Pineda had also assured him that she would support the financial and other needs of the former rebels. – Rappler.com

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