OIPDWA preempts CTG recovery efforts
CAMP DOWNES, Ormoc City, September 12, 2021 -- Avoiding from resuming a violent way of life, a total of 18 members of the communist terrorist group (CTG) on lie-low status from four upland villages of Ormoc City voluntarily surfaced today at Barangay Quezon Jr. to formally return to the fold of the law.
Of the number: three confessed to be members of the batakang organisasyon sa partido (BOP) or basic organization of the party - an equivalent to party branch - who were also yunit milisya (YM) members; nine admitted to be former fulltime members of the NPA including an underling of the special operation group; four as former YM members; one as former full-time organizer being a member of the Propaganda Organizing Team (POT); and, a former runner-liaison officer.
Fifteen of the surfacing CTG lie-low members are residents of Quezon Jr. and one each from Barangays Hugpa, San Antonio and Can-untog.
With the efforts of the Ormoc Integrated Peace and Development Association (OIPDWA), being a DOLE-registered and LGU-accredited organization of former rebels in the city, the surfacing lie-low CTG members sought the help of Quezon Jr. Barangay Captain Federico D. Manigao, Jr. who in turn coordinated with the 802nd Infantry (Peerless) Brigade, 8ID, PA.
Despite the bad weather and poor road condition, a combined team of the 802nd Brigade, the 93rd Infantry (Bantay Kapayapaan) Battalion, 8ID, PA, the Northern Leyte Provincial Field Unit, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), PNP, and the SAMBAYANAN Eastern Visayas went to the Barangay Hall of Quezon Jr. where the surfacing former CPP-NPA-NDF members were gathering.
During separate interviews, the 18 lie-low CTG members/supporters were one in saying that they decided to officially turn themselves in rather than be reconnected with the CTG which they already avoided.
They admitted that the NPA platoon led by a certain Juanito Sellesa, Jr. alias Tibor or Jay, a native of Barangay Luneta, Lapaz, Leyte, attempted to recruit them back into the communist terrorism movement.
As they promised to help convince their former comrades to totally cut off any remaining link with the CTG, more CPP-NPA-NDF members and supporters on lie-low status from different villages of Ormoc are expected to surface in the next few weeks in order to lead a normal life.
Through the effort of Barangay Captain Manigao, less than a hundred former CTG mass supporters and sympathizers joined with the barangay officials and workers, and other village folks in a successful dialogue with the OIPDWA, the SAMBAYANAN Eastern Visayas, the 802Bde and 93IB, both of 8ID, PA, at the barangay covered court amid heavy mid-afternoon rain.
On the spot, officers of the OIPDWA subjected the surfacing lie-low CTG members to the standard livelihood skills inventory and training need assessment that also covered their dependents and other household members as part of the effort to reintegrate them into the mainstream of the society.
Barangay Captain Federico D. Manigao, Jr., whose elder brother was among the 13 lie-low CTG members that surfaced today, made the barangay hall, covered court and other facilities available for the simultaneous activities.
As third party advocate of the whole of nation approach in ending local communist armed conflict provided under Executive Order No. 70 that also created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), SAMBAYANAN committed to assist the former CTG members and supporters in normalizing their lives through de-radicalization, livelihood training, and other intervention programs.
802nd Brigade Commander Brigadier General Zosimo A. Oliveros thanked the OIPDWA for its earnest effort in facilitating the return to the folds of the law of their former comrades. He also commended the Brgy Captain, Honorable Federico Manigao, Jr. who is the concurrent chairman of the Barangay Task Force ELCAC for opening the door to his constituents who responded to the popular call of working together to attain genuine peace in his Barangay.
“The efforts of the OIPDWA has a great impact in preventing the communist terrorist group from reconnecting with their former comrades and reestablishing a foothold in the barangay”, Oliveros concluded.
-30-
For Immediate Release: 13 September 2021
Contact Person: CPT KAHARUDIN K CADIL (INF) PA
CMO Officer, 802Bde, 8ID, PA
0917-560-5896