2 soldiers, rebel killed in Zambo del Sur gunbattle

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — The military intensified its operations against communist rebels in the Zamboanga Peninsula, killing a suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla while two soldiers were killed and another wounded during a gunbattle on Friday.

Brig. Gen. Roseller Murillos said troops from the Army’s 53rd Infantry Battalion encountered some 30 NPA rebels in the area, triggering a three-hour firefight in Barangay Gasa, Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur.

Troops were able to recover several rifles, grenade launchers, ammunition and tactical radios at the site, indicating some of the rebels were wounded and hurriedly fled during the firefight.

The military said the rebels belonged to the NPA’s Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee.

However, two of the three soldiers who were initially wounded in the encounter were killed in a vehicular accident, police said.

The third wounded trooper was airlifted in a helicopter.

Initial reports said the military truck transporting the two wounded soldiers veered off the road and fell into a ravine in a remote village in Pagadian City.

The regional police said the two soldiers died from severe injuries at the hospital while nine others were injured in the accident.

Elsewhere, government troops overran a suspected NPA training camp in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental on Thursday.

Police arrested four suspected NPA rebels at a road checkpoint in Kabankalan City, also on Thursday.

At the same time, two rebels surrendered and turned over an M14 and an AK47 rifle to the troops at the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) headquarters in Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur.

Westmincom commander Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said the rebels belonged to the regional communist party committee where at least a hundred of them have surrendered after President Duterte cancelled peace talks with the communists.

Some of the rebels who surrendered were given P65,000 each in livelihood assistance, courtesy of the Davao Oriental Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office.

Under the national government’s Comprehensive Local Integration Program (CLIP) and in partnership with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, some 28 former rebels were given financial and livelihood assistance after graduating from a seminar in a facility called Happy Home.

Twenty-year-old Jericho, one of the former rebels who received the financial assistance check, said he is thankful to have made “the right choice” of surrendering to the government.

“Before I felt like I was groping in the dark with no direction, now I can see a bright future ahead of me,” he said.

Jericho said he intends to open a sari-sari store and will open a savings account with the money he has received.

“The military and the Happy Home staff treated us very well. They took care of us, fed us and looked after our needs. They also offered us so many services which I never expected I could ever get. I can’t believe I am receiving all these blessings. It truly exceeded my expectations,” said another former rebel.

These former rebels, the last batch of beneficiaries under the CLIP, surrendered to the government sometime in June to August and have been housed at Happy Home, receiving comprehensive services from the government. 

For the whole year of 2017, a total of 55 former rebels have been enrolled in the CLIP.

At Happy Home, former rebels received holistic government services that include medical and psychiatric services, counseling, education, sports development, spiritual enlightenment program and livelihood and skills training.

Before their two-month stay at Happy Home, the former rebels were first admitted at the Army’s 701st Brigade’s Ugnayan Center where they would undergo a 10-day “deradicalization” course.

Happy Home center manager Emalyn Oliveros said she hopes that the series of training, especially on livelihood, coupled with the cash assistance, will give former rebels more inspiration in pursuing their dreams. – With Lino dela Cruz, Edith Regalado, Gilbert Bayoran