Wanted pregnant NPA member surrender in Sultan Kudarat

COTABATO CITY - A pregnant member of the New People’s Army wanted for attempted murder yielded to authorities in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat Saturday.

Brig. Gen. Michael Santos, commander of the Army’s 603^rd Infantry Brigade, said the woman peacefully turned herself in when policemen under units of the Police Regional Office 12 and personnel of the 37^th Infantry Battalion arrived at her hideout in Barangay Napnapon and showed her a warrant for her arrest.

The eight-month pregnant NPA, whose name was withheld for her safety, was charged with frustrated murder in a local court.

“I had long planned to come out and surrender to the 37^th IB after learning that all of my companions who surrendered to that unit early on were treated nicely and had been reintroduced to the barangays from where they have come from,” the surrenderee, who asked to be identified only as dayang, said.

The NPA has a reputation for attacking members who have surrendered to the government and their relatives.

Santos said soldiers and members of the Palimbang Municipal Police Station and other units of PRO 12 searched for Dayang after learning that she wanted to surrender but could not proceed to the headquarters of the 37^th IB, or to any command post of a unit of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division, due to her delicate condition.

More than 200 NPAs had surrendered to units of 6^th ID in central Mindanao since 2022.