Sixty-six MILF members from different towns in Central Mindanao, some of them trained abroad, bade goodbye to their firearms last Saturday, during surrender rites, which Army chief Lt. Gen. Jaime de los Santos attended, at the command headquarters of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division here.
The rebel returnees comprised the ninth batch who have voluntarily yielded, through the intercession of the 6th ID, since the Arroyo administration started reviving the peace talks with the MILF.
Brig. Gen. Roy Kyamko, the 6th ID’s commanding general, said the MILF guerrillas decided to surrender after having witnessed how Malacañang is developing their camps into peace zones with the help of NGOs, including Muslim and Christian religious organizations.
"We are expecting more (guerrillas) to avail themselves of the government’s reconciliation program because they want to start life all over again in their former camps," Kyamko said, citing feedback from local leaders in war-torn areas.
In North Cotabato, hundreds of MILF rebels and their families have returned to their former camps in Pagalungan, Carmen and Pikit towns, bringing farm tools needed to replant their rice and corn farms.
Col. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., commander of the 602nd Infantry Brigade, which has jurisdiction over former MILF enclaves in North Cotabato, said apart from their peace-keeping tasks, soldiers in the province also help evacuees and even MILF rebels till rice and corn farms in preparation for the coming cropping season.