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They want to give their three children a brighter future.
Aurello Botilla, 53 and wife Merlinda, 39, decided to leave the New People's Army (NPA).
“Life in the mountains is very hard. We could barely rest because of the need to elude the military,” said Aurello in Cebuano.
The couple have three children aged nine, three and one years old.
Aurello, a native of Catmon town, said their nine-year-old daughter did not finish grade two since they had to transfer from one place to another.
“It affected her studies. I can’t give my children a better life if we stayed in the mountains,” he said.
Aurello said he was with the NPA for 18 years. The couple were squad leaders of the NPA front in northern Cebu.
The couple surrendered to Catmon Mayor Estrella Aribal on Thursday.
They turned over a shotgun and hand grenade.
Cebu Provincial Police Director Carmelo Valmoria and Central Command Deputy Commander General Jessie Dellosa and Lt. Col. Raymundo Bañares, head of the 78th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, presented the couple to Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia at the Capitol yesterday.
Dellosa said the couple’s names would be deleted from their Order of Battle.
Aurello said he joined the NPA in 1991 after he suffered abuse from the members of the defunct Philippine Constabulary. He said he met his wife Merlinda in the underground movement.
Arello said he and Merlinda had to hide after a murder charge was filed against them before Branch 25 of the Danao City Regional Trial Court for the death of four soldiers killed in an ambush in Carmen town in 2002.
Valmoria said the couple will to face the murder charge before they could help them in their re-integration into society. /With Correspondent Christine Hazel Gabales
