TWENTY-SIX armed communist rebels recently surrendered to authorities and renounced their allegiance to the communist party in a public ceremony on Tuesday.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin C. Abalos, Jr. and police officials from the National Capital Region presented the 26 individuals at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, according to a video of the ceremony streamed live on Facebook.
“We welcome back those who surrendered and we hope for a brighter and better tomorrow,” Mr. Abalos said.
The former members of the New Peoples’ Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, will undergo a reintegration program provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Labor and Employment.
The country’s Anti-Terrorism Council has labeled the communist party as a terrorist group, but a Manila Court recently issued a ruling declaring the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA as a legitimate political movement.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla has said the Department of Justice would take its plea seeking to declare the CPP-NPA as a terrorist group before the Court of Appeals. — John Victor D. Ordonez