BUTUAN CITY, May 24 -- At least 13 former combatants of the New People's Army (NPA) in Agusan del Norte have completed their Junior High School studies under the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of the Department of Education.

The former rebels (FRs) had surrendered to the Army's 23rd Infantry Battalion (23IB) on different occasions in 2023 and this year.

"The ALS program is among the benefits that our FRs availed from the government when they decided to abandon the communist group," the 23IB said in a statement on Friday.

The former rebels were among the hundreds of ALS scholars who graduated from the program in a ceremony held in Butuan City on Thursday.

"I am happy that I achieved something after leaving my violent past under the ...