SURRENDER of one squad with 12 members of the New Peoples’ Army’s (NPA) operating in the hinterlands of Barangay Minalwang in Claveria town has led to the seizure of arms cache  firearms in Misamis Oriental, military officials said Tuesday.

Acting on information provided by the surrenderees, government troops recovered an arms cache in three different locations, said Army's 4th Infantry Division public affairs chief Major Rodulfo Cordero 

Cordero said the arms cache discovered on Nov. 8 at Sitio Langusahan consisted of high-power firearms and hundreds of ammunition.

The surrenderees (squad of NPA rebels) revealed arms caches to the combined forces of the 58th Infantry Battalion (58IB) and the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion (2SRB), according to Cordero.

58IB commander Lt. Col. Ricky Canatoy, said former rebels are members of the 3rd Platoon, HQF Neo, North Central Mindanao Regional Committee (NCMRC) under the leadership of alias Barman. 

Canatoy said their surrender was made through the help of Minalwang village chieftain Rex Mansangcagan.

"The combined forces from 58IB and the 2SRB seized firearms and war materials after the surrenderers voluntarily revealed arms caches where they hid their firearms," said Canatoy.

Seized from the arms caches in three different locations are 2 AK47, 1 Garand, 1 M14, 1 Carbine, 2 M16 and 1 M653, according to Canatoy.

"770 different kinds of ammunition, hundreds of magazines and other war materiel are also seized," he said.

According to  the squad leader, they surrendered due to fatigue and hunger.

"They were always on the run day and night to evade the government forces that are incessantly conducting pursuit operations," Canatoy said.

4ID commander Major Gen. Andres Centino said the surrender of the entire squad of CPP-NPA terrorists is an indication that the military operations in Northern Mindanao has caused the demoralization of the armed group.

“Our continuous focused military operations will drain the resources of the CPP-NPA," said Centino, adding because they will not be able to extort money from business firms and farmers. 

Centino emphasized that without resources the communist rebels will either surrender or abandon the armed struggle, and this incident proves it and we expect more surrenders in the coming days.

Centino said the surrenderers will be enrolled in the government's Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) for rebel returnees. (Ben Balce)