The life of a rebel returnee: A testimony of experiences

The Philippine Government has been in constant battle against the Communists Party of the Philippines (CPP) particularly its armed force which is the New People's Army (NPA). For decades now, the government has led efforts in order to have peaceful agreements with this group so to end the armed conflict and eventually to convince the members of NPA to surrender. A few have surrendered, while many are still fighting for their ideologies. This study generally aimed to look into the lives of rebel returnees. This study used the descriptive-qualitative research Method, particularly the case study. This undertaking made used of two tools as the main data-gathering instruments, to wit; Protocols-These are recorded interviews that were the basis in coming up with a more accurate transcript of the rebel returnees’ accounts and Interview Checklist-This contained the specific questions that the researchers asked the rebel returnees. The accounts of the rebel returnees were thematically presented and analysed. Three themes which are the Profile, Life as a Rebel, the Surrender and Life after Surrender were used to categorise the information gathered. Each theme was discussed and documented through the respondents’ accounts and the researchers’ observations. Confidentiality of the identity of the respondents was withheld. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that the government should sustain its efforts in assisting rebel returnees and ensure a wider dissemination of the benefits of surrendering in order to convince rebel returnees to go through the formal process and the government should conduct sustainable programs and activities aimed at assisting out-of-school youth in finishing their education or engaging them in productive activities like local youth oriented groups, sports and livelihood projects to prevent them from being allured to the temporary benefits of the rebel groups.