The Army's 11th Infantry Battalion Saturday recovered a .30 caliber machine gun and an anti-tank weapon from a former platoon leader of the New People's Army in central Negros.

Lt. Col. Jesus Manangquil, 11th Infantry Battalion commander, yesterday said Ka Leny, whose real name is being withheld for security reasons, had gone inactive for several years from the New People's Army. On Saturday, he surrendered a heavy machine gun and a 55 recoiless rifle, an anti-tank weapon, which is capable of destroying an armored personnel carrier or V-150 of the Philippine Army.

The surrender of Ka Leny came almost a week after a NPA platoon leader, identified as a certain Ellano, alias Sword, also gave himself up to Manangquil and also surrender an M-1 carbine rifle.

Manangquil said the surrender of Ka Leny and Ellano who had been inactive in the rebel movement for almost a decade, was due to their anti-insurgency awareness program in central Negros.

Military records show Ka Leny and Ellano were among the platoon leaders of the defunct Regional Guerilla Unit of the Negros Island Regional Party Committee, now called the Komiteng Rehiyonal Negros and chaired by priest-turned-rebel Frank Fernandez.

Under the government's Balik Baril program, Ka Leny is expected to receive P120,000 for the machine gun and an anti-tank weapon he had surrendered. In more than two months of intensified military operations in southern Negros, the 61st Infantry Battalion headed by Lt. Col. Norman Flores also recovered two M-16 assault rifle, an M-14 rifle, a carbine and M1 garand rifle and two .38 caliber revolvers from the two rival rebel factions - New People's Army and Rebolusyonaryong Hukbo ng Bayan - in southern Negros.

"They are tired of hiding in the mountains and evading confrontation with government forces," Manangquil said, referring to the two former New People's Army leaders. Military records show that the heavy armaments surrendered by Ka Leny were recovered by the CPP-NPA in separate raids of 57th and 7th Infantry Battalions at the height of the insurgency problem in southern Negros.*GPB

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