Philippines: 3 Communist Rebels Surrender To Military

Three members of the New Peoples' Army (NPA) communist insurgency surrendered Saturday in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, according to the military.



Captain Rowena Muyuela, Western Mindanao Command spokesperson, said in a statement that the former rebels gave up their armed struggle to government forces in Guipos town, allegedly after noticing dwindling mass support for the movement.



"The NPA rebels also yielded a KG45 sub-machinegun and a caliber .45 pistol when they surrendered about 7: 30 a.m. to the commanding officer of the 53rd Infantry Battalion at Camp Sabido in Guipos town," she said.



All three are reported to be experts in "propaganda" and members of the group's Western Mindanao Revolutionary Party Committee.



Their surrender comes in the wake of security forces capturing an alleged top NPA leader in southern Mindanao island on charges of destructive arson and murder.



Authorities said ​​Francisco Saramosing -- alias Zoilo Cadelina and Isko, head of the sub-regional Peasant Bureau and Executive Committee and member of the Southern Regional Command 2 – was arrested Thursday afternoon in Maco city, Compostela Valley province.



He formerly served as secretary of Guerilla Front 27 of the NPA's Southern Mindanao Regional Command.



Two suspected NPA members were also arrested after a firefight Friday in Iriga City, Camarines Sur province, to the north.



The NPA — the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) — is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department and as a terrorist group by the European Union.



The group, which reportedly has thousands of members in 69 of the country's 81 provinces, collects "revolutionary taxes" in areas where it operates, mostly from businesses.



The CPP refers to the NPA as "the tax enforcement agency of the people's revolutionary government."



The Philippines government, however, delisted the NPA as a terrorist organization in 2011 and has resumed preliminary peace talks pending formal negotiations with its parent organization.



Peace negotiations have recently reached an impasse.



The Philippines government has specifically drafted a "new framework" which seeks to end the 27-year-long stalemate in the talks, hoping to build ground with the leftists rebels that is more comprehensive than human rights — the only issue on which the parties agree. - Zamboanga