Abra NPA rebel surrenders

Bangued, Abra — A 27-year-old New People’s Army (NPA) rebel, who said that difficulties in the underground movement are turning pointless for him, surrender to authorities on Wednesday here.

Jon-jon Bersalona Molina, alias Ka Sharon, 27, single, a native of Guinguinabang, Lacub town, Abra, met intelligence officers of the police and military based here after negotiations for his surrender was finalized by Lacub Mayor Cesar Baroña earlier this week.

Molina also surrendered a caliber .30 M1 US carbine with a magazine assembly loaded with 12 live ammunition. He said he wants to clear his name from the government’s Order of Battle List and to have a normal life again.

Authorities said Molina is still undergoing "tactical interrogation" while he is being referred to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for assistance. Ka Sharon, authorities said, was a regular NPA member reportedly doing "Gawaing Masa" (rebel mass work) under a certain communist leader Ka Lyka attached to the Kilusang Larangang Gerilya-Northeast operating in the Lacub and upper Tineg towns.

Molina has a Bachelors degree in Information Technology and joined the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) on April 16, 2005 in Guinguinabang, Lacub. He was recruited by Ka Lyka.

Senior Superintendent Alexander Pumecha, Cordillera police spokesman said, said Molina and his group recruited villagers in Guinguinabang and Bacag in Lacub, and in Agsimao and other barangays of Tineg to join the communist cause.

"He was not made to undergo any formal training in the underground organization since he finished advanced Reserved Officer’s Training in college," the police official claimed.

While doing the so-called "mass work," Molina bared that they usually help in farming activities whenever they are in barangays. They also travel or move frequently from one place to another at nighttime and stay in barangay outskirts during the day, Pumecha said. — Artemio Dumlao