Seven more members of the now weakened New People’s Army, including two women, surrendered to the 37th Infantry Battalion in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat on Monday, September 8.
Local executives told reporters on Tuesday, September 9, that the seven NPAs, four of them minors, belonged to a group that collected money and rice on periodic basis, at gunpoint, from hapless villager in hinterlands in the adjoining Kalamansig, Lebak and Palimbang towns in Sultan Kudarat.
Major Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told reporters that the seven NPAs were presented last Monday by the commanding officer of the 37th IB, Lt. Col. Christopherson Capuyan, to his immediate superior, Brig. Gen. Michael Santos of the 603rd Infantry Brigade, and Kalamansig Mayor Ronan Eugene Garcia.
The combat weapons and improvised explosive devices of the seven NPAs are now in the custody of the 37th IB, according to Gumiran.
Gumiran said the group agreed to surrender, as prelude to their reintroduction to mainstream society, through the joint intercession of Capuyan, Santos and Garcia, who, as mayor, is chairperson of the multi-sector Kalamansig Municipal Peace and Order Council.
Two from the group, Brigoy Kansio, 27, and the 29-year-old Papaw Indang, who both belong to an indigenous highland tribe, separately told reporters that they will help units of the 6th ID convince their few remaining companions to avail of the government’s reconciliation program for NPA members for them to get reunited with their families.
“Life is so hard in the mountains. We forcibly collected food and money from unarmed farmers and small store owners at gunpoint for us to have something to eat and have funds for our other needs. What is so hurtful is that the money we collect from helpless farmers is often pocketed by our leaders,” Indang said.
Gumiran said the mayor of Kalamansig had provided the seven erstwhile NPAs with money and food supplies that they would need in their return to their respective barangays.
More than 300 NPAs had surrendered in batches to different units of the 603rd Infantry Brigade since 2024, all of them reintroduced to the local communities by the 6th ID and different agencies in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and in Region 12.
Photo shows the NPA members who surrendered on Monday receiving cash assistance from the mayor of Kalamansig. (September 9, 2025)