Army assists pregnant NPA fighter until she gives birth

DAVAO CITY—Troopers from the Army’s 93rd Infantry Battalion of the 802nd Infantry Brigade (802Bde) have assisted a pregnant New People’s Army (NPA) fighter who surrendered in January this year, until she gave birth earlier this week.Rutchelle Ilad, whose rebel unit belongs to the Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee, said she was six months pregnant during her surrender on January 13 in Buruaen, Leyte.Along with her husband Rene Boy De Paz, Ilad said they were treated well and not neglected by the troops until she gave birth to a healthy baby girl on April 3 at the St. Mary Birthing Center in Albuera Leyte.“Thank you very much for helping us out,” Ilad said an interview with John Paul Seniel Reports aired online on Thursday.In the same interview, Col. Noel Vestuir, the 802Bde commander, vowed to guide the couple for them to attain a new, peaceful life along with their daughter.“We will make them realize that this government is concerned with people like them,” Vestuir said.“Whoever surrenders, we vowed to help them and take care of them as we abide with the International Humanitarian Law. We firmly believed that the couple was just victims of lies and deception of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF),” he added.Vestuir also urged the remaining NPA fighters to surrender and return to the folds of the law.ThankfulDe Paz, meanwhile, thanked the 802Bde for their help from preparation stages until her wife gave birth.“I am thankful for their help for my wife’s safe delivery as we welcomed our healthy baby girl,” he said in vernacular.According to the couple, they choose to surrender because they wanted to start a family, and they could only do that if they leave the armed group.They also admitted that their mass base has already withdrawn support for the NPA after the series of immersions and economic interventions by government troops and the Provincial and Municipal Task Forces on End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) in the barangays.The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973. (PNA)