54 ex-militant farmers in Tarlac breakaway from NPA

TARLAC, Philippines – Fifty-four farmers formerly identified with the New People’s Army (NPA) withdrew their support to the insurgent group.

In a statement Thursday, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) 1st Civil Relations Group commander Maj. Al Anthony Pueblas said the farmers were once members of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL).

The disengagement from the NPA happened in Barangay Balete, Tarlac City. 

“The event was facilitated and witnessed by the Philippine Army’s 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion and 702nd Brigade with the Philippine National Police –Tarlac and other member agencies of the Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict,” he said.

The 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion commander Lt. Col Jeszer Bautista praised the ex-militants’ move to live in peace rather than in hiding. 

Bautista warned the ex-rebels of old schemes of the NPA like offering and promising ways to stop the cycle of poverty, especially in the farming sector to sway them back into insurgency. 

The farmers will be joining the Malayang Magbubukid ng Hacienda Luisita, an organization of former NPA supporters and members in Tarlac.