Gov’t still accepting surrenderers from communist groups, DND chief says

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Monday clarified that the government would still accept surrenderers from the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

This came after President Rodrigo Duterte had mentioned that he would stop accepting members of the NPA who surrender to government forces because of their continued hostilities.

"Next time around we will raise the bar higher, pag magdating ang... wala ng surrender-surrender, fight ka diyan hanggang mamatay ka. Di na mag-accept ng surrender, pabalik-balik kayo," Duterte said during his meeting with soldiers in Sulu on Saturday.

But Lorenzana, in an ambush interview with reporters, said Duterte could have pronounced this out of "frustration."

"Sabi niya kung magpatuloy kayo sa mga atrocities baka hindi na kami tatanggap ng (surrenderers) so kuwan lang yun siguro, frustration lang niya dahil nga sa halip na tumigil 'yung mga 'yan sa kanilang ginagawa, tuloy-tuloy pa rin 'yung mga attacks so naiinis na siya siguro," Lorenzana said.

"Sinabi niya na kung magpatuloy kayo wala nang (surrenderers), but wala namang official announcement siya na sinasabi sa amin na wala nga, kundi sinabi lang niya yun sa media. So ang tingin ko dun is patuloy pa din 'yung aming pang-come on sa mga (surrenderers), puwede pa silang bumaba dahil tuloy-tuloy naman 'yung ating programa," Lorenzana said.

"Ganon pa rin kami, tuloy pa rin ang pa-surrender namin tumatangap pa rin kami," he added.

The Defense chief also said there is a budget allotted for communist rebels who surrender to the government: "Meron namang nakalaang pera diyan to rehabilitate them para makabalik 'yung buhay nila sa normal."

Lorenzana also mentioned that those communist rebels who had surrendered to them were all sincere.

"Wala naman kaming experience na ganun, 'yung mga sumuko naman sa amin hindi naman bumabalik eh, they have been there at sinsero naman sila sa ginagawa nilang pagbalik," he said.

In March, Lorenzana said 4,000 NPA members and sympathizers surrendered to the government.

The CPP, however, deemed Lorenzana's claim as a "complete hoax."

The formal resumption of peace talks between the government and communist groups was scheduled to proceed on June 28 in Norway, but it did not push through as Duterte said he wants more public consultations before returning to the negotiating table.

Duterte, in July, said he is ready for another 50 years of war with the communist groups, stressing that the latter only want "power sharing and coalition government." — RSJ, GMA News