A MILITARY commander in Mindanao yesterday offered to vaccinate New People’s Army rebels against COVID-19 if they will abandon the 52-year-old armed struggle and surrender to government.
Maj. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr, commander of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division in Cagayan de Oro City, made the offer after troops from the Army’s 88th Infantry Battalion killed five communist rebels and captured 14 others in clashes in San Fernando and Talakag towns and Valencia City in Bukidnon on September 8 to10. Of the total captured and killed, seven tested positive for COVID-19 including three minors.
“We are willing to provide COVID-19 vaccines to the CTG (communist terrorist group) if they will decide to abandon the armed struggle and cooperate with us,” said Brawner.
Brawner said all the captured rebels will be vaccinated in coordination with local government units (LGUs). If the LGUs have no vaccines, Brawner said the military may allocate vaccines allocated to soldiers, who are not yet available for vaccination because they are in the mountains conducting counter-insurgency operations.
Brawner said he has spoken with presidential adviser on the peace process and concurrent vaccine czar Carlito Galvez to request vaccine allocation for NPA rebels who will surrender, and the former military chief “assured” him vaccines will be allocated to them “to demonstrate the government’s sincerity in calling for reconciliation amidst this pandemic that significantly changed our way of life.”
