An arms cache of a dwindling New People’s Army group, previously being monitored in the Northern boundary of Davao Oriental and Davao De Oro, was discovered by the troops of 66th Infantry Battalion in an isolated area of Sitio Danawan, Brgy. Manurigao, New Bataan, Davao de Oro.
The cache which contains four M16 rifles, one M14 rifle, two AK47 rifles, one Garand rifle, one Carbine rifle, and two M203 grenade launchers was discovered based on the information of the community and the confirmation of two former leaders of the said group who previously surrendered to Ltc. Roman S. Mabborang, Commander of 66IB and Hon. Jayvee Tyron L. Uy, Governor of Davao de Oro and Head of the Provincial Task Force Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC) last February 10, 2020.
The two surrenderees also revealed in their surrender the gradual diminishing of their particular group, brought about by the cascade of surrenders while some went on lie low status or have permanently left, leading them to disintegrate and merge with another group.
Meanwhile, MGen. Jose C. Faustino Jr., Commander of Eastern Mindanao Command in his congratulatory remarks, urged all units to continue supporting the peace initiatives of the Local Government Units while relentlessly running after the armed group.
“While we are focusing on pursuing those who continue the armed struggle, let us continue to support the peace initiatives of our local government unit counterparts so that, hand-in-hand, we can sustain the peace gains we have achieved the previous year,” MGen. Faustino Jr. said.