Leyte army again calls on Reds to surrender, avail of aid

ORMOC CITY, Leyte, Feb. 21  -- A top Army official in Leyte province has called on the New People’s Army (NPA) to abandon communism and avail of government assistance meant for rebel returnees.

Brig. Gen. Francisco F. Mendoza Jr., commander of the Philippine Army’s 802nd Brigade based here, said Wednesday they have been pushing maximum opportunities for rebels to surrender to return to their normal lives.

To encourage more rebels to return, the government offers financial help through the Comprehensive Local Integration Program (CLIP), which includes an immediate assistance of PHP15,000 that a rebel returnee would receive while undergoing processing, an additional PHP50,000 for livelihood, and PHP20,000 from the Provincial Social Work and Development Office.

“Rebels who submit firearms would get a financial assistance from the government, ranging from PHP2,000 to PHP449,000, depending on the kind of weapon. These are given so they could start life at the mainstream anew,” Mendoza said.

Any rebel who surrenders a heavy machine gun caliber 7.62 (M73) is entitled to a PHP279,510 cash assistance.

Mendoza said last year, armed rebels deployed 18 individuals from Northern Samar for their recruitment in upland Leyte, which turned out to be a failure.

“The fatality during the encounter in Hilongos, Leyte last year and the one wounded were both from Las Navas, Northern Samar. As we monitored, they have already returned home following failures in their mission,” Mendoza told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

The army assured they would assist all rebel surrenderers, whom they advised to approach village officials, local chief executives, religious leaders, relatives from the army and police, or media.

Late last year, at least five rebels from Leyte turned themselves in to authorities. (ERR/PNA)