55 Sarangani rebels surrender

MAASIM, Sarangani – Authorities here announced the surrender of some 55 communist rebels.

“You tell others that there is no reason for fighting now. Kami ay nasa likod ninyo para alalayan kayo at mabigyan ng magandang kinabukasan ang inyong mga anak (We are behind to assist you and provide your children with a better future),” Gov. Migs Dominguez told the former rebels who took their pledge of allegiance to the government and renounced the armed struggle last Friday at the municipal gymnasium.

Dominguez said this is the second mass surrender in the province in a month. He vowed to make the fertile hinterlands into production areas by building farm-to-market roads and bringing in more investors.

Maasim Mayor Aniceto Lopez Jr. said the rebel returnees led by Primo Cabreros Pregonir, alias Dodot, an executive committee member of the FSMR, decided to go back to the fold of the law after he has grown tired of fighting the government.

“We realized the irrationality of fighting against the government and the impossibility of winning the war as promised by our recruiter,” Pregonir told reporters when asked.

Lopez said the rebels gave up the armed struggle because they believed in their commitment to realize their economic benefits and understood the government’s goal in turning the municipality, a rebel battleground in the 1980’s and the 1990s  into a progressive one.