Insurgency: Mortar Shelling

The AFP has good numbers to report again this week with the surrender of more than 200 NPA terrorists.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1103831

A total of 119 communist terrorists have voluntarily surrendered as a result of "intense military operations" from May 17 to 23, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said Monday. 

Of this number, 36 surrendered in the Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) area, one was killed, and three were apprehended; 82 surrendered in the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), and one surrendered and another was killed in the operational area of the Southern Luzon Command (Solcom). 

"(This is a) combination of focused military operations, CMO (civil-military operations), and extensive support from the local populace. The program under the NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) that benefitted other returnees further encouraged other rebels to return to the fold of the law," Zata said.

In South Cotobato and Sarangani provinces 108 NPA rebels surrendered.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1104277

A total of 108 more New People’s Army (NPA) rebels operating in South Cotabato and Sarangani provinces surrendered to government authorities in the last two weeks, the most number for the area in recent years.  

Brig. Gen. Michael John Dubria, Police Regional Office (PRO)-12 director, said Friday the rebels yielded voluntarily to police and Army personnel starting May 15 following a series of negotiations.  

Dubria said the series of surrenders were done in coordination with concerned local government leaders, through the Task Forces to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC).  

Dubria, who joined the presentation of the surrenderers in Sarangani on Thursday, said NPA units in the area were “continuously weakening as some of (their) leaders are returning to the folds of the law.”  

The 44 returnees in Sarangani, who were led by a certain “Tiger,” surrendered over a dozen high-powered firearms, assorted ammunition, explosives, NPA emblems, and subversive documents.

One rebel who surrendered had been fighting for 11 years.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1104377

A 27-year-old man, a New People’s Army (NPA) combatant for 11 years, has voluntarily surrendered to Philippine Army troops in Cauayan, Negros Occidental, the 15th Infantry Battalion (15IB) reported on Friday. 

The former rebel, identified as Albert Yanong Alon, alias “Butsoy”, was a platoon leader of the North Negros Front (NNF) and a squad leader of SYP/SDG Platoon of the southwest Front (SWF), operating in the area of Barangay Sangke in his hometown of Hinoba-an. 

“After many years, he has realized that the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) only used him for their vested interests. He has no respectable future if he continues to stay, and like the previous surrenderers, it is not too late for him to live peacefully with his family,” Cariño said. 

According to the 15IB, Alon was recruited by the CPP-NPA in 2009 when he was only 16. 

He joined the armed group, believing that being part of the organization would resolve his social concerns, particularly land issues. 

Alon’s experience as a seasoned combatant made him a platoon leader of an independent unit operating in northern and southern Negros in 2012. 

“During my years in the struggle trying to destroy the government, I have not seen freedom, equality, and peace. When our comrades die, their families do not receive any assistance and benefits from the organization,” he said. 

Alon added that with the assistance of the 15IB, he could start over with his family without fear.

Recruited at 16 and he thought joining would resolve his concerns about land issues? What 16 year old is thinking about land issues? Alon is right that he can now start over without fear, without fear of government prosecution that is. All these people who surrendered will now be able to avail of the government's E-CLIP program which includes free housing, cash, and training.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1104183

At least 45 rebel returnees in South Cotabato province will undergo technical-vocational (tech-voc) training through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).  

The beneficiaries are all indigenous peoples (IP) and former members of the NPA’s militia organization who surrendered early this month in Barangay Ned, Lake Sebu town in South Cotabato, he said.  

Abrogar said the former rebels will be trained under the agency's IP Empowered as Agripreneurs towards a Collective End (IPEACE), which is among the priority programs of TESDA Director General Secretary Isidro Lapeña.  

“This is centered on providing appropriate (tech-voc training) programs for the IPs, especially on agriculture,” Abrogar said.

Many of these surrenders are the result of local peace talks. Some of those involved with the peace talks are former rebels. Recently three such peace builders were abducted by the NPA.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1104301

The Philippine Army has condemned the New People’s Army (NPA) over the abduction of three former rebels turned “peacebuilders” in an upland community in Motiong, Samar early Wednesday. 

Lt. Col. Reynaldo Balido Jr., commander of the Army’s 87th Infantry Battalion said the abduction of a father and his two sons is a heinous crime and against the International Humanitarian Law. 

"We vehemently condemn this barbaric act of the NPA terrorists. They have victimized non-combatants. They abducted people who are working for peace in the locality," said Balido in a statement issued on Friday. 

The communist terrorists abducted Cosme Cabangunay and his sons Jevie and Jason around 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday in Canvais village in Motiong, Samar. 

The trio are members of Motiong Peacebuilders, an organization of former rebels who joined the peace and development efforts of the government.

A whole organization of former rebels turned peace builders.  How many are there? Hopefully these men will be found unharmed. 

Remember a few weeks ago when the AFP claimed they found birth control pills in an NPA hideout? They claim that such a find is proof of sexual abuse of women in the NPA. This week they found more birth control pills in an NPA hideout.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1103830

Birth control pills were among the personal items recovered by Philippine Army troops inside the lair of New People’s Army (NPA) in a remote village of Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental over the weekend. 

Photos of three stubs of oral contraceptive tablets were released by the 303rd Infantry Brigade (IBde) on Saturday afternoon, a day after soldiers of 94th Infantry Battalion engaged communist-terrorists in a firefight in Barangay Buenavista and found their hideout in the area. 

Col. Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of 303IBde, said in a statement on Sunday that the recovery of birth control pills is an indication of sexual abuse suffered by female NPA members and recruits. 

“It clearly manifests the ongoing and rampant sexual abuses among their ranks especially by NPA commanders against their female members,” he added. 

Pasaporte reiterated his call on the female NPA combatants to abandon the armed struggle and go home to their respective families. 

“Don’t let the NPA leaders take advantage of you. They are just making you their sex slaves,” he added. 

On April 23, troops of 20IB also found boxes of birth control pills inside an NPA hideout in an upland village of Catubig, Northern Samar. 

Also on October 22 last year, soldiers of 88IB recovered some contraceptive pills, condoms, and pornographic materials from another NPA hideout in the forested area of Barangay Kibongkog, San Fernando, Bukidnon. 

Earlier this month, two pregnant NPA medics surrendered to the 23IB in Buenavista town, Agusan del Norte.

If you zoom in on the picture in this article you can see they name of the pills are "levonorgestrel ethinyl estradiol" so these really are birth control pills.  But that does not mean the NPA is making their female members their sex slaves. That's a pretty big leap to make.  The NPA denies such allegations.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2020/May/28/topstory10.htm

The Apolinario Gatmaitan Command of the New People’s Army strongly debunked military claims of alleged sexual abuses on female members and recruits of the New People’s Army and dismissed it as “age-old lies brought out of the blue and downright illogical”.  

Ka Juanito Magbanua, spokesperson of the Apolinario Gatmaitan Command, said in a statement on Tuesday that the NPA strictly adheres to the “3-8” or “tres-otso”, or three main rules of discipline and eight points for attention, which includes a point against the exploitation of women.  

Magbanua also said that romantic relationships and marriage are considered as serious matters for the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the NPA, stressing that their comrades and the masses are educated in family planning.  

Magbanua explained that the People's Democratic Government has several statutes that involve the respect of women's rights and their emancipation. In the NPA, women are treated equally with men, and enjoy every right the same as a male comrade.  

He alleged that it is the AFP, PNP with their commander-in-chief Rodrigo Duterte at the helm, who have consistently violated women's rights.  

He said some of their misogynistic feats include Duterte's command of “shooting the NPA fighters directly in the vagina” among other various rape jokes.*

Perhaps they do, perhaps they don't. Maybe it's all just propaganda.  Maybe it's not.  What's not propaganda, but could be uses a such, is the real death of 3 children from a mortar shelling.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1280757/2-children-killed-15-wounded-from-mortar-shelling-in-maguindanao-on-eidl-fitr

Two girls aged 10 and seven years old were killed by a mortar that landed on their house in a village of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town, Maguindanao in the afternoon of Sunday, as the Muslim world observed Eid’l Fit’r. 

Aslamiya Tambak, 10, and her sister Asnaida Tambak, 7, were watching television with their mother Noraisa, when the mortar shell went through the roof of their house in Kitango village, Datu Saudi Ampatuan town past 4 p.m. on Sunday. 

Shards from the mortar hit the girls and wounded their mother and five-year-old brother Norsaid. 

It was not clear how many houses were hit in the area but village officials said there were a number of mortar shells that hit the village on Sunday, wounding a total of 15 people. 

Among the five who were wounded and admitted in the hospital was five-year-old boy Datu Juhad Singh.

It's not clear how many houses were hit but there were a number of shells that hit the village? Locals claim that the AFP regularly shell civilians to flush out the BIFF.

http://davaotoday.com/main/human-rights/moro-groups-blame-military-for-deaths-of-two-children-in-eidl-fitr/

Moro human rights group hold the military accountable for the reported mortar shelling during Eidl Fitr celebration Sunday in a village in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao that killed two children and injured several others.  

The incident happened around 3:15 on May 24, which hit the house of Sayyid Tambak in Barangay Kitango that caused the deaths of his children Aslamiya Tambak age 10, and Asnaida Tambak 7. Their mother was injured as well as twelve other relatives.  

Kawagib Moro Human Rights reported that at least four 81 millimeter mortar shells landed in the village, as villagers reported that the military was conducting shelling to “flush out” the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in communities in Maguindanao. 

Kawagib also cited a report from the Ministry of Social Service and Development in Maguindanao province that more than 6,000 individuals were forced to evacuate due to a series of mortar shelling in the town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

The AFP’s 6th Infantry Division denied conducting military operations on May 24 in observance of Eidl Fitr that marked the end of the month-long Ramadhan. 

But another Moro group, Suara Bangsamoro, condemns the long history of military operations that have targeted civilians instead in Moro communities. 

“Even though [the military] says that they are pursuing what the government called terrorist elements of BIFF, however, it is the civilian Moro that is widely hit due to the use of airstrikes and mortar shelling in communities claiming to have [BIFF’s] presence,” Suara Bangsamoro spokesperson Jun Naga said.

The AFP regularly shells Moro villages to flush out terrorists!? If that is true that is messed up!