PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 1, 2013) – A young member of the New People’s Army, who was recruited only this year, abandoned his unit after missing home and surrendered to authorities in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, security officials said Friday.
Officials said Jhomer Veraño surrendered to a composite team of police and military in the village of Dawa in Josefina town. Veraño told interrogators that he trained four months in the mountain, but decided to surrender after missing his family in Tigbao town, also in the province.
The rebel said he is a member of Squad Dos, SECOM KARA of Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee under rebel leader Romanito Sumasay.
Officials said Veraño surrendered his gun and told interrogators where he hid his Ak-47 assault rifle and munitions provided him by the NPA. He said his team is based in the village of Dalapan in Guipos town and composed of 70 rebels and armed with assorted weapons and their operations cover half of the province.
The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines which has been fighting for decades for the establishment of a separate state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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