Lt. Gen. Greg Almerol, commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command (File photo) DAVAO CITY - Lt. Gen. Greg Almerol, commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom), lauded on Friday the combined efforts of the military, police, former rebels, and the local government units in clearing the remnants of the communist New People's Army Sub-Regional Committee 5 (NPA-SRC5). The Eastmincom statement came after various NPA members who were former students of the so-called "lumad schools" and its underground mass organization supporters continued to surface and scrap the local communist armed struggle. On February 28, a total of 206 indigenous individuals here who were members of various NPA front groups surrendered and declared "pagsalikway" or rejection of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA in a ceremony at the Balimba Hills, Sitio JBL, Barangay Sto. Nino in Talaingod, Davao del Norte. The surrenderers included eight members of the NPA Sub-Regional G
Eastern Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Greg Almerol (PNA file photo) DAVAO CITY - The Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) reiterated on Monday its call to other communist New People's Army (NPA) members to surrender to avoid bloodshed. Lt. Gen. Greg Almerol, the Eastmincom commander, made the call following the death of five members of the communist New People's Army (NPA) in an encounter on February 24. In a statement, Almerol condoled with the families of the slain NPA members, whom he said were victims of deception and wrong ideology. The slain NPA members identified as Chad Booc, Jojarain Alce Nguho ll (alias Rain), a certain alias Daday, and two still unidentified men figured in an encounter in Purok-8, Barangay Andap, New Bataan, Davao de Oro. Booc, 27, graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines-Diliman with a Bachelor of Computer Science degree. "This would not have happened if they took heed with our offer to abandon the armed struggle. Their onl
Dr. Maria Natividad Castro (File photo) MANILA - Dr. Maria Natividad Castro, alias Dok, is an active member, recruiter, trainer and fundraiser of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF). This was confirmed by former CPP-NPA-NDF member Gleceria Balangiao, liaison officer of the Rural Missionary of the Philippines-Northern Mindanao Region, during a virtual press briefing of the National Task Force to End Local Communists Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Monday. Balangiao, alias Ka Inday, told the press that she personally met Castro several times between 2006 and 2009 during meetings and trainings of NPA fighters on "first aid" treatment for wounded terrorists. She said she first met the lady doctor in Cagayan de Oro where Castro works and gives trainings in community-based areas controlled by the NPA. Balangiao added that Castro is also into "recruiting health professionals" to join the terrorist movement as &
(File photo courtesy of A.R.T. Andin) DAVAO CITY - The Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) on Wednesday expressed full support for the proposal of Mayor Sara Z. Duterte to make military service among 18-year-old Filipino youth mandatory, saying their role is vital to the country's peace and development. "We believe that the role of our youth in the peace, development, and stability of our country is vital given the current security situation both internal and external," Lt. Gen. Greg Almerol, the Eastmincom commander, said in a statement Wednesday. Should she win as vice-president in the coming 2022 polls, Mayor Sara said she would ask Congress to pass a measure on the imposition of mandatory military service for all 18-year-old citizens, both male and female. "In other countries, the youth aged 18 or above have to serve their armed forces mandatorily for two years," Almerol said. He also pointed out that aside from modernized assets, the country needs more fo