CAMP EVANGELISTA, Cagayan de Oro City, (PNA) -– A squad leader of the New People’s Army voluntarily surrendered to the military in Surigao del Norte, the military said Tuesday.
Lt. Col. Leo Bongosia, an army spokesperson of the 4th Infantry Division here, said that Alan Quijano Tabora, 25, squad leader of “Squad Kaloy” of Sentro de Grabidad (SDG), Guerilla Front 16 of the Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee surrendered because he could no longer bear the hardship while being hunted as a rebel fugitive.
During interviews, Tabora also disclosed that internal squabbling and discrimination had sipped in ranks of the NPA, the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, where the commanders enjoy more privileges than ordinary fighters, Bongosia said.
He said that Tabora also exposed the alleged violation of Human Rights perpetrated by the NPA by killing innocent civilians, swindling of minors to join the NPA, womanizing and corruption within the CPP-NPA organization.
Tabora also complained of poor health condition, exposure to sickness, lack of food, material and financial support as some of the reasons of his surrender, Bongosia added.
Bongosia said that Lt. Col. Vincent B. Iringan, the commanding officer of the 30th Infantry Battalion in Surigao del Norte welcomed Tabora’s surrender as the triumph of the Filipino people.
“We can always correct the mistakes and pains of the past but it will be better if we can all move forward and reconcile with one another,” Iringan said in welcoming back Tabora to the society’s mainstream.