BACOLOD CITY – A young couple, former fighters of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) based in Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental, surrendered to the Bacolod City Police Office on Tuesday.
They were identified as Adonis Ligid-Ligid, 26, and his common-law wife Danica Aro, 21, platoon leader and medic, respectively, of the Sentro de Grabidad Southern Front of the NPA’s Armando Sumayang Command.
Col. Thomas Joseph Martir, police city director, welcomed the former rebels.
“With your surrender, we hope to encourage the others to do the same so they would also enjoy a good life with their family with the support of the government,” he said.
According to the briefer, the couple contacted the anti-crime advocacy group Task Force Kasanag, which endorsed them to Police Station 7, and they formally turned themselves in and pledged allegiance to the national government in a ceremony held at the BCPO headquarters.
Ligid-Ligid, who joined the CPP-NPA at 18, came from a family of communist rebels and fought the government for eight years.
His three siblings died in clashes with government troops in previous years.
Meanwhile, Aro was recruited by the communist-terrorist group in 2018 when she was only 17.
They told the police they were blinded by the propaganda of the CPP-NPA and since joining the movement when they were just teenagers, they have become tired of the armed struggle and have longed for peace.
In 2020, they already planned to surrender but their movements were then limited by coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) quarantine restrictions.
Until recently, when they had the opportunity to visit their family, they decided not to return to their lair.
After the couple’s surrender, the Philippine National Police endorsed them to the temporary custody of Hinoba-an Mayor Ernesto Estrao, who was represented by his spouse, Barangay 1 village chief Letecia Estrao.
Estrao turned over to the surrenderers the financial assistance provided by the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office.
The former rebels’ surrender was held during the launching of the BCPO’s Project TAPE or Table for Peace, a Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) initiative that promotes peace, development, and reconciliation in this city.
The word “tape” also means to secure, cordon, and isolate Bacolod from the deception, recruitment, and atrocities of the communist-terrorist groups.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The National Democratic Front (NDF) has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973.
Source: pna.gov.ph