Skirmishes between the AFP and NPA continue.
Armed skirmishes have again ensued between Army soldiers and suspected New People’s Army rebels at Sitio Cansampo, Brgy. Bagtic, La Libertad, Negros Oriental, yielding a gun with ammunition, the Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion reported during the weekend.
Members of the 62IB were conducting combat operations in response to information relayed to them by civilians, when they encountered nine NPA rebels in the place, resulting in a firefight that lasted approximately five minutes.
The fleeing rebels left behind two backpacks containing personal belongings and subversive documents, and a caliber .357 revolver with four ammunition.
None of the 62IB soldiers were hurt, and they are still tracking down the fleeing NPA rebels as of press time.
Lt. Col. William Pesase, 62IB commander, reiterated his call for the fleeing injured rebels to surrender so that they can be given proper medical treatment.
Three weeks ago, nine rebels died in encounters with the 62IB in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, and Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.
Pesase said they are giving a chance for rebel remnants to return to fold of law, before it will be too late for, as they will not stop hunting them down.
I guess it's too bad they did not know that they have been declared persona non grata.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) sustained community engagement in the Visayas has gained grounds, with close to 9,000 local government units declaring the Communist Party of the Philippines- New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) “persona non grata," an Army official said on Monday.
“These denouncements and mass declaration in the Visayas region is a clear manifestation that our people are already fed up with the deception, treachery, and cruelty of the CPP-NPA. This will serve as a motivation for us to boost our efforts to push the CPP-NPA on the brink of irreversible collapse,” Visayas Command commander, Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, said in a statement.
He said the communist armed struggle in the Visayas has been fast becoming irrelevant after a total of 8,895 LGUs condemned CPP-NPA atrocities in the Visayas -- 13 are provinces, 364 are municipalities and the rest are barangays.
The figure was revealed during the Viscom’s Military Operations Coordinating Conference in Camp Lapu-Lapu here.
With the declaration, party leaders, NPA fighters, and their supporters are not welcome or prohibited to enter the jurisdiction of these LGUs.
The continuous increase of localities that denounced and declared the CPP-NPA as persona non grata has been attributed to the sustained community engagement and continued implementation of the Barangay Development Program.
The AFP says the NPA in Negros is dwindling and that the legal fronts are now sending in reinforcements.
As the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army’s (CPP-NPA) strength continues to dwindle, its legal fronts are now sending reinforcements in the countryside, a key Army official said on Friday.
Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, 3rd Infantry Division commander, disclosed this in his message to troops during the turnover of command ceremony of the Army’s 47th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Old Namangka in Mabinay, Negros Oriental.
Sison noted a decline in numbers with only about 20 active NPA members monitored in central and northern Negros.
After the recent Himamaylan, Negros Occidental encounters, the military noted the arrival of legal front members from the national level to Negros Island.
He did not elaborate but stressed that the military would always be on its feet.
“We have to sustain our gains and continue our pressure against the NPA,” Sison said in mixed English and Filipino.
Sison told the troops to continue sustaining the Army’s mission in totally dismantling the South Western front, referring to the NPA’s guerilla front in the 47IB’s area of coverage in central Negros.
“We have a very tall order for this year to dismantle all the existing guerilla fronts here in Negros,” he added, as he reassured the new battalion commander, Lt. Col. Magno Mapalad, of his full support.
It's no surprise he did not elaborate but one wishes he did. Is the Makbayan bloc sending fighters to Negros? Are teachers, members of the ACT, taking up arms and rushing to Negros? If this accusation is true it would be the perfect opportunity to prove the so-called legal fronts of the CPP-NPA are actively fighting and participating in rebellion.
5.5 million pesos has been doled out to 100 former rebels in the Visayas.
The national government through the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) has released a total of PHP5.5 million in cash assistance to over 100 former communist rebels in Visayas during the first two quarters of the year, an Army official said on Friday.
Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, Visayas Command (Viscom) commander, said the cash grant awarded to 109 former rebels include PHP1.6 million immediate cash assistance; PHP1.6 million livelihood aid; and PHP2.2 million integration assistance.
These are apart from the educational assistance, health benefits, and other livelihood packages granted by other government agencies as well as the firearms remunerations that were granted to the former rebels who yielded their firearms to the government troops upon their surrender.
In a statement, Arevalo underscored the importance of ECLIP in the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ fight to diminish the manpower and armed capability of the NPAs.
“It is a potent tool that serves as our left-hand approach in encouraging the members of the terrorist-communist group to return to mainstream society,” he said as he also expressed thanks to other government agencies and groups who also played vital roles in pushing the fight against the Communist Party of the Philippines.
He said the effort has a long way to go but with the collective efforts driven by the desire to attain just and lasting peace for the people, “it can be assured that the end is near for the CPP-NPA in the region.”
Meanwhile, the Viscom chief urged other local government units, particularly those at the barangay level, to denounce and prohibit the CPP-NPA from entering their locality by declaring them persona non grata.
That is a lot of money that could have gone to law abiding citizens rather than terrorists and rebels.
More areas have been declared insurgency free. First up is Pangasinan province.
Pangasinan, the biggest province in the Ilocos Region, remains insurgency-free.
This was the report of Lt. Col. Michael Bautista, commanding officer of the Army's 71st Infantry Battalion, during the joint meeting of the Provincial Development, Provincial Peace and Order, and Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse councils on Thursday, June 22, here.
Bautista, however, asked the council to "reaffirm" the insurgency-free status of the province.
Bautista said that since 2018, when Pangasinan was first declared insurgency-free, no violent insurgency-related incident was recorded in the province.
This declaration is really just a reaffirmation.
The next area to be declared insurgency free is the town of Binangonan.
The municipal government of Binangonan, Rizal is grateful to its residents and stakeholders for helping make it as one of the municipalities in Rizal Province to gain insurgency-free status.
Mayor Cesar Ynares, during a ceremony held on June 27, thanked the residents for their active involvement in the process of transforming the municipality as a peaceful town without insurgency.
The declaration of Stable Internal Peace and Security (SIPS) status in Binangonan was followed by a signing of a Pledge of Commitment not to support the Communist Terrorist Group among officials, residents, and other stakeholders.
Mayor Ynares heads the Municipal Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
During the event held at the Binangonan Recreation and Conference Center, Brig. Gen. Cerilo C Balaoro Jr., commander of the 202nd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, commended the local government of the municipality that had just been certified insurgency-free for institutionalizing the Whole-of-Nation strategy and achieving this significant milestone in the normalization process,”
Balaoro said the town "stands as a shining example, inspiring them to strive for similar achievement and work towards a shared vision of peace and progress.”
The SIPS declaration involves all concerned government agencies in keeping peace and preventing the infiltration of the communist terrorist groups and its legal front organizations in the municipality.
The town’s local chief executive is now leading the charge in maintaining peace and security while pursuing development initiatives for the good of their constituents.
Part of the activity is the redeclaration of the CPP-NPA-NDF as persona non grata.
One insurgency free barangay has doled basic services to its residents.
Nearly 1,000 residents here were provided free basic social services by the Municipal Task Force-End Local Communist Armed Conflict (MTF-ELCAC) and the local government of Baggao.
The Service Caravan rolled out on Friday, June 30, in Barangay Carupian in collaboration with the 77th Infantry Battalion, CAFGU Active Auxiliary, 1365th Dental Detachment, and the Philippine National Police.
Around 127 individuals were given free medical consultation and medicines and vitamins, 93 benefited from free dental checkup and tooth extraction, 45 youngsters were circumcised, and 73 received free haircut.
Apart from these, 388 families received five kilos of rice each, 150 individuals received seedlings, while 50 were given hygiene kits.
Barangay Carupian in Baggao was once infested by the communist terrorist group which made it the focus of the Community Support Program of the 77th IB.
With the help of the local government and various government agencies, Barangay Carupian was declared insurgency-cleared.
Imagine the government using the excuse that there are terrorists about which is why they cannot provide basic services. Yet that is exactly what the NTF-ELCAC and MTF-ELCAC is doing.
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