The US-Marcos Jr regime have exhausted several ploys in its desperation to completely crush the revolutionary movement within its new deadline. It involves using coercion, pressure on the family, and the display of financial rewards under the E-CLIP and Amnesty program to persuade mass organizations and Red fighters-who are easily swayed by the bourgeoisie and petit-bourgeoisie influences—to surrender themselves to the reactionary government.

Surrenderees are paraded by the AFP in mainstream and social media for their dissemination of black propaganda. This fascist institution made photo opportunities of distributing financial and material assistance to the ‘surrenderees’. Additionally, ‘surrenderees’ are made to testify using a scripted narrative in which they claim that their lives are now peaceful, abundant and they have gained freedom the instant they yield to the reactionary state.

But the life of these ‘surrenderees’ is far from the reality. Many of them who realized that they feel into the pit of lies have broken their silence. The cash assistance they were promised is a big fraud. To gain monetary rewards and be able to feed their families, they were forced to guide during military operations, risking their lives along the way. They also point at any individual and mark them as supporters or members of the New People’s Army (NPA) to gain favor from the military.

However, there are those who are completely blinded by money, turning them into AFP’s and NTF-ELcac’s lackeys. Among them are Jumbem Vargasa, Reymart Dayanan, Orlan de la Peña and Yuling Landisa, residents of Barangay Trinidad, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental. They willingly submit themselves to them and have been utilized through and through. They can be seen in every military operations, causing incalculable harm to the livelihood and lives of the masses.

These ‘surrenderees’ have become mere tools of the AFP and NTF-Elcac in the pursuit for more money to balloon the wallets of the miltary officials. If there is something the ‘surrenderees’ receive, this is just a pinch of what these officials are enjoying. Programs, like E-CLIP and amnesty, that are supposed to benefit the ‘surrenderees’ are nothing but promises blown by the wind. In the long run, the AFP will dispose them when deemed useless by either letting them rot in prison or by killing them.

Thus, those who are deceived by the AFP and the NTF-Elcac and still hoping for the empty promises of the reactionary government must be awakened by the truth. In a semi-feudal and semi-colonial system, they are among the oppressed and exploited dominated by the ruling class in control of the economy and politics. To date, majority of the masses, including the families of the ‘surrenderees’ suffer issues of landlessness, little to no livelihood opportunities, and meager wages while the prices of basic commodities continue to increase.

These are the reasons as to why the armed struggle will never cease to exist. As long as the roots of poverty, oppression and exploitation remain, the situation of the masses will not change. Without genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization, there will be no genuine development in the country.