BANCASI, Butuan City – A young member of the CPP-NPA Terrorists (CNTs) who surrendered to the 58th Infantry (Dimalulupig) Battalion under the operational control of the 402nd Infantry (Stingers) Brigade received his DILG Financial Assistance Package worth Six-Hundred Twenty-Four Thousand Pesos (PhP624K) during the E-CLIP Awarding Ceremony last Wednesday, March 17, 2021, at Headquarters 58IB, Brgy Migbanday, Claveria, Misamis Oriental.
Alias LAKAY, now 18 yrs old and the former Squad Leader of Squad Uno of Platun Samsung of the Sub Regional Committee (SRC) 1 of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee (NCMRC), is among the seventy-two (72) Former Rebels (FRs) who were very pleased to receive financial assistance from the E-CLIP Committee members led by Hon Dexter Yasay, Mis Or Sangguniang Panlalawigan Member; Engr Marisha Naivet, the Provincial Director of DILG Mis Or; and Brigadier General Maurito L Licudine, Commander of the 402nd Brigade together with the representatives of other member agencies in Mis Or, namely: DOLE, TESDA, DTI, DA, PSWD, and PNP.
Alias LAKAY revealed that, he was recruited by the legal front organization of the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG), the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) Balingasag Chapter in the said province while he was still fourteen (14) yrs old in 2016. “Usa sa naka-dani sa ako nga mukuyog sa kalihukan kay gitabangan ang among pamilya nga maka-iskwat ug yuta nga among mapuy-an ug akong mga amigo nga pamilyar sa ako nga myembro pud sa kalihukan”, Alias LAKAY said.
LAKAY surrendered last November 2019 and brought along with him two (2) M4 Rifles and three (3) AK47 Rifles. He further disclosed that he had already experienced a total of twelve (12) encounters and was badly wounded with fourteen (14) gunshot wounds in one of the encounters against government troops. He was the top recipient of the financial assistance for surrendering multiple firearms among other surrenderees, namely: Alias Esrael, 524K; Alias Leo, 266K; Alias Ronald, 226K; and alias Ernesto, 156K. A total of Php5.5Million pesos from the DILG Financial Assistance Package were given during the E-CLIP Awarding Ceremony.
He plans to use the money that he received from the government to put up a small sari sari store, buy a lot for farming, and set-up a hog and poultry production as livelihood for his family. He said, “Akong hinaut nga makatabang sa akong pamilya nga sila makatagamtam og saktong panginabuhian og ang akong igsoon nga makapadayun og makahuman sa eskwela. Gapasalamat ko og dako nga nahatagan ko usa pa ka higayon nga magbag-o kay sa tulo ka tuig lisod kaayo ang kinabuhi sa taas kay gutom, dili maayo ang ilang sistema sa pagtratar sa mga kauban, ug wala mituman sa ilang saad”.
Meanwhile, Brigadier General Maurito L Licudine lambasted the NPAs and its legal front organization, the KMP, for exploiting the youthfulness and preying on the innocence of alias LAKAY used as a “child warrior”. He said, “instead of letting these children enjoy their youth and honing their potentials in schools, the NPAs and their cohorts manipulate them, instill hate and push them towards violence and sometimes to their grave, which is a clear and blatant violation under the International Humanitarian Law”.
“We shall save the youths from the continuous exploitation of the CTG while at the same time reassuring the remaining CTG that we shall sustain and conduct no let-up Focused Military Operations to force them with no choice but to abandon the armed struggle. With the continuous financial and housing assistance and other interventions under the E-CLIP, the remaining CNTs who decide to lay down their arms can be assured of better opportunities to become productive members of the society”, BGen Licudine said.
