By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has appealed anew to the New People’s Army (NPA) in Negros to surrender amid rejecting calls from the new Philippine Army commander in the province for localized peace talks.

Lacson said yesterday they will continue to encourage NPA members to lay down their arms and avail of the benefits from government programs.

He also expressed his support to the suggestion of 303rd Infantry Brigade (303IBde) commander, Colonel Michael Samson, to discuss peace with the group.

“It has been an ongoing effort in the past several years, stressing that many rebels have, in fact, already surrendered to avail of the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program of the government,” Lacson said.

Samson had already warned that they would mercilessly pursue the group if they refused.

Earlier, the NPA’s Apolinario Gatmaitan Command rejected the peace terms and has threatened to mount tactical offensives against government forces.

In a statement, the NPA unit spokesperson, Maoce Legislador said the group will never engage in a “phony undertaking.”

Legislador also debunked claims by the military that there was an encounter between the NPA and the 94th Infantry Battalion on January 9 at Barangay Carabalan’s Sitio Malikoliko in the province’s Himamaylan City.

He said that the “local peace talks were quickly exposed as murderous psychological warfare, a failed attempt at deodorizing the 303IBde’s brutal counter-revolutionary war.”/DGB, WDJ