NPA surrenderee: Some commanders sexually assault women in their ranks

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Three more members of the New People’s Army surrendered Wednesday, one of them told reporters about how rebel commanders have been sexually molesting women in their ranks.

Lyn and her companions, Dok and CJ, pledged allegiance to the government Wednesday in a simple rite at the headquarters of the Army’s 37th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Tibpuan in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, after turning in two M16 rifles and materials for home-made bombs.

The Army’s 6th Infantry Division withheld their exact names for security reasons. Some NPA members reportedly attack members who have returned to the fold of law and their relatives.

Major Gen. Roy Galido, commander of 6th ID, said Friday the three NPA members surrendered through the intercession of Lt. Col. John Paul Baldomar of the 37th IB and his immediate superior, Col. Michael Santos, commander of the 603rd Infantry Brigade.

Lyn, Dok and CJ belonged to the NPA’s self-styled Daguma Front-Far South Mindanao Region, whose senior leaders are wanted in different courts for heinous offenses.

Lyn said most NPA commanders in the group are notorious for sexual misconduct.

“They sexually harass and even rape women under them. It’s a fact known to NPAs,” she said in Filipino.

She told reporters she decided to bolt from the NPA, along with her two companions, when they learned about how those who had surrendered ahead of them to units of 6th had been reintroduced to mainstream society.

No fewer than a hundred NPAs had surrendered to the 6th ID in the past 12 months, among them experts in fabrication of improvised explosive devices.