By Christine Magsayo
GUIPOS, Zamboanga del Sur - Two members of the New People’s Army (NPA) with their firearms have surrendered recently to the Philippine Army (PA).
The two were presented to the media yesterday at the 1st Infantry Tabak Division, Camp Sang-an, Barangay Pulacan this town.
Ka-Junjun, 25, said he was lured by his cousins and relatives into joining the movement with the promise of P5,000 monthly pay.
The promised amount did not come. Instead, he was trained to hold guns and hide behind trees and tall grasses to save his life during encounters.
Another rebel returnee, Ka-Jay, 19, who was also promised to receive P5,000 a month, had never received a single centavo from the NPA. So, he decided to surrender to the military with his M-16 rifle issued by the rebel group.
They said: “We were already tired of running and hiding in the hills for fear that the soldiers might arrest us.
We joined the movement in the hope that we could our family in sending our young siblings to school.”
The Philippine Army is now securing the two young men with the promise of providing them some livelihoods.