NPA leader in Mindanao surrenders, military says

A top leader of the New People’s Army surrendered to authorities on Monday, the military said on Saturday.

Eduardo Genelsa alias “Lando”, said to be the commander of the NPA's Pulang Bagani Company 3 and staff of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee, turned himself in to the military, the 10th Infantry (Agila) Division (10ID) of the Philippine Army based in Davao de Oro said.

Genelsa was fed up with the “cyclic and futile cause” of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the Army said.

He got involved in raids and armed encounters against the police and Army in Southern Mindanao starting in 1979, it added.

Genelsa also had a standing warrant of arrest for robbery, and charges for double, multiple and frustrated murder.

Captured in 2016, Genelsa was released the same year as one of the peace negotiators for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the Army said.

However, he went into hiding in after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered their capture after the peace talks failed in 2017.

The Army said Genelsa will be given benefits in the government’s amnesty and Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program or ECLIP for communist surrenderees.

However, criminal charges will continue, the Army said.

10ID commander Major General Ernesto Torres Jr. vowed to ensure Genelsa’s safety. —KG, GMA News