The Armed Forces of the Philip­pines (AFP) has advanced to vic­tory in the fight against insurgency as hundreds of insurgents, seeing a brighter future with the govern­ment’s Social Integration Program (SIP), continue to surrender volun­tarily to government forces, while ­more rebels, including their com­manders, are either captured or killed during encounters with the military.

With this development, the AFP said it is definitely winning on all fronts, as it further intensifies op­erations against the New People’s Army (NPA), Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), resulting not just an increase in the number of casualties, but also on the number of those who have decided to return to the folds of the law.

The AFP said recently, on sepa­rate occasions, that at least 183 for­mer rebels have decided to peace­fully and voluntarily surrender to the military and avail of the govern­ment’s offer for them to start a new life.

Also last week, at least 16 more ASG and rogue MILF elements were killed, while around 33 were wounded in separate clashes with government troops in Indanan, Sulu and Magu­indanao. Among those wounded in Sulu were one of ASG notorious lead­ers, Al-Bader Parad, who reportedly carries a $15,000 bounty on his head.

In Maguindanao, among those killed were three commanders of the MILF’s 105 base command, identi­fied as Tolni Salik, Musilan Camin, and Asansari Alim.

The fighting in Maguindanao re­portedly broke out as the MILF at­tempted to recapture one of their camps that the military had overrun earlier. Due to a huge number of reb­els, the military used artillery and mortar fires against them.

The AFP,however, stressed “this is not just about the number of casu­alties on the NPA, ASG, or MILF’s side, but also in the influx of surren­derees upon learning about the sin­cere commitment of the government to help them start their life anew."

In Agusan del Sur, 57 former reb­els received financial aid and liveli­hood assistance from the govern­ment last June 19.

In Laguna, 106 NPA rebels yield­ed and were given cash assistance by the government through the joint effort of the military, Laguna provin­cial government, and office of the Presidential Affairs on the Peace Process (OPAPP) on June 17. The rebels came from the 3rd and 4th Districts of Laguna. Each of them received cash incentive of P20,000, Philhealth membership cards and bags of goodies.

According to OPAPP, another batch of rebel returnees and sympa­thizers would also receive the same package of benefits before the end of the month. In March 2007, the government launched the SIP in ac­cordance with Administrative Order No. 172 in which the incentives were increased from P2,500 to P20,000 and the socioeconomic assistance from P20,000 to P50,000.

In Lanao del Norte, 19 members of the lawless MILG group (LMG) and a communist rebel surrendered to the 43rd IB under the command of Lt. Col. Juvymax Uy last May 30. The battalion is currently deployed in Mindanao but is under the 8th In­fantry Division based in Samar.

The rebels were headed by Ag­onto Baas @ Ago and Mangondatu Limbuna alias Black Cadre operat­ing in Lanao del Norte.

The military is determined to meet the goal of defeating these law­less elements by 2010 as earlier di­rected by President Arroyo.

The AFP said “all our efforts and resources are being channeled to our troops on the grounds who need support in order to be able to carry out military operations, particularly to save kidnapped red cross worker, Italian Eugenio Vagni.”