Facilitator of surrendered NPA commander, rewarded

The facilitator of the surrender of alias PRAPRA—the NPA commander who was reunited with his family and availed medical assistance—received a financial reward from Army’s 53rd Infantry “Matapat” Battalion (53IB) following PRAPRA’s voluntary surrender to Labangan Municipal Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (MTF-ELCAC), 53rd IB, and Labangan PNP on November 24, 2020.

The financial reward amounted to a total of Php 10,000.00 was given by 53rd IB Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera in a simple ceremony held last month.

Prapra was the former Guerilla Front (GF) Commander of the now-defunct GF Feliciano ‘B’ and GF-13, the NPA’s Communist-Terrorist Groups (CTGs) formerly operating in Zamboanga Sibugay province.

The facilitator, whose identity will not be disclosed for his own security, thanked the 53rd IB and the government as a whole not just for the said financial reward, but also for giving him the opportunity to help Prapra be with his family.

“When he said he is an [NPA] and wants to be with his wife and child, I knew what I had to do. He said he doesn’t want his son to grow up without a father,” said the facilitator in local dialect.

This was during the relentless conduct of Army operations by 53rd IB in the boundaries of Labangan and Tukuran to pursue the remnants of NPA’s Main Regional Guerilla Unit (MRGU) of Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee (WMRPC) which is now at the brink of collapse.

According to Lt. Col. Herrera, the 53rd IB will continue to give premium on the well-being not only of the Former Rebels, but also of those who facilitate the surrender of Communist-NPA Terrorists (CNTs) as they are taking an active role in peace keeping and sustainment—a manifestation of their love for peace and our country.