NPA rebel joins siblings in surrender to Philippine Army

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines - — A self-confessed member of the NPA, operating in southern Negros Oriental has voluntarily surrendered Monday morning to the Philippine Army, joining his brothers and a nephew who had gone ahead of him in the past months.

Junie Boy Dacaldacal, a resident of Barangay Nagbalaye in Santa Catalina town of Negros Oriental, said he surrendered on his own free will to the 79th Infantry Battalion after months of lying low from the underground movement.

Dacaldacal was presented to military and police top officials from the Visayas and Region 7 during Tuesday morning’s Regional Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Center (RJPSCC) conference at Camp Fernandez in Sibulan, Negros Oriental.

Police Regional Office-7 director Chief Superintendent Prudencio Tom Bañas, Brigadier General Romeo Labador, deputy chief of the Central Command, Senior Superintendent Mariano Natuel Jr., OIC director of the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office, and Colonel Allan Martin, 302nd Infantry Brigade commander were among those at the RJPSCC meeting.

Lieutenant Colonel Harold Pascua, 79th IB commander who brought Dacaldacal, told members of the RJPSCC, that Junie Boy was the latest of the Dacaldacal family to surrender, ending the family’s active participation in the rebel movement.

Pascua said the five Dacaldacal brothers and a nephew were popular among the NPA rebels and among the residents of the villages of Nagbinlod, Nagbalaye, Talalak and Milagrosa, to name a few, that were once affected by insurgency.

Those who surrendered ahead of Junie Boy were Jessie, alias Dukol, who was allegedly the second in command of the NPA’s South East Front and the commanding officer of its Sentro de Gravidad Patrol; Jessie’s son, Romnick, an assistant squad leader; and Junie, who was physically challenged but nevertheless active in the rebel movement.

Another brother, Diosdado, alias Aming, and his wife, Jocelyn, were killed in an encounter between the NPA and government troops late last month in the hinterlands of Tanjay City.

“All of the Dacaldacal family members, who were reportedly involved in the insurgency are now all accounted for, and they are now on our side,” said Pascua.

Junie Boy said that, after he asked permission from the NPA to integrate with his family, he left for Manila to seek employment there. He returned recently after learning that his siblings already surrendered and were being taken care of by the Philippine Army and provided livelihood assistance.

While with the NPA, he said he carried an M-16 armalite rifle with him but handed it over to his peers when he left. The military is now processing his papers for him to qualify for financial and other livelihood aid from the provincial and national governments.  (FREEMAN)