‘Rebel leader’ nabbed in Negros Oriental

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Government security forces arrested an alleged leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental on Sunday.

Macario Fat Sr., alias Lawin, was reportedly the vice commanding officer of the NPA’s Central Negros 1 Section Guerrilla Unit, which is operating under the Komiteng Rehiyonal Negros/Cebu/Bohol/Siqujior.

Fat reportedly yielded a .45-caliber pistol to the joint team of the Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion (62IB) and police who arrested him in Barangay Sandayao.

It was Fat’s family who reportedly informed the authorities about his presence in the area, according to Lt. Col. William Pesase Jr., commanding officer of the 62IB.

The family has been encouraging Fat to surrender to the Guihulngan Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict so he could avail himself of the benefits and opportunities being offered by the government to returning rebels, Pesase said.

Pesase reiterated his call for the remaining rebels in Central Negros to abandon the armed struggle and live a normal life.

Meanwhile, 11 alleged NPA guerrillas surrendered to the military camp in Bukidnon.

The rebels turned over their firearms to the 1st Special Forces Battalion of the Army’s 403rd Infantry Brigade in Manolo Fortich town, according to Maj. Francisco Garello, chief of the Army’s 4ID public affairs office.

The surrenderees were reportedly remnants of a splinter group of the NPA’s Sub-Regional Command under the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee.