The AFP has declared NPA rebels who surrendered to be heroes!
A commander of the Philippine Army’s 2nd Infantry Division (2ID), which has operational jurisdiction over Southern Tagalog, on Tuesday called communist rebels voluntarily surrendering to government forces as "heroes of modern times".
"Act of turning backs from the armed struggle is a crucial step in attaining a just and lasting peace in our beloved country," 2ID commander Major Gen. Greg Almerol said.
To date, a total of 234 New People's Army (NPA) militias voluntarily surrendered to government security forces, raising the total to 674 since Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) was implemented in 2016 in Southern Tagalog.
On September 20 alone, he said eight NPA militia members voluntarily surrendered to government forces in Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro due to localized peace negotiations. All eight are members of the NPA's "Kilusang Larangang Gerilya MAV".
"Under our care, these former rebels and those who will decide to surrender in the coming days will be assisted by our troops in claiming their E-CLIP grants while we ensure their safety and promote their well-being so that they will be able to peacefully rejoin the mainstream society as responsible and productive Filipinos," Almerol said.
Almerol also lauded the local government units and the security forces for their teamwork and seamless relationship in defeating the NPA terrorists.
"We are calling upon the few remaining NPA terrorists to follow the path of your former comrades by choosing peace over violence because, as mandated by the Constitution, we will get those who still choose to sow terror against the people regardless whether they are dead or alive," he added.
A fuller quote come from PIA.
MGen Greg Almerol, Commander of the Army's 2nd Infantry Division which has operational jurisdiction over Southern Tagalog, admired the former rebels, calling them, “heroes of modern times whose act of turning their backs from the armed struggle is a crucial step in attaining a just and lasting peace in our beloved country."
NPA rebels, some who may have actually killed AFP soldiers, are heroes because they have surrendered and turned their back on "the armed struggle." That may seem like a horrible joke but not if you take into account the fact that the AFP wants rebels to surrender. It makes things so much easier.
With mounting surrenders, the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) and their allies are on the decline, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay said Wednesday.
"All figures are on the decline and in fact, many of them have surrendered. For this year alone, there are more than 1,000 (communist terrorists) who have surrendered with almost 800 firearms from the side of the CPP-NPA and many are still sending surrender feelers," Gapay said.
With these surrenders, Gapay said the NPA, armed component of the CPP, has "significantly degraded" giving the AFP time to focus on the non-military problems of the communist insurgency.
Gapay was referring to poverty and injustice used by the communist terrorists in furthering their propaganda and recruiting new members, especially among the Indigenous Peoples communities.
Gapay says the surrendering of thousands of NPA terrorists has "significantly degraded" the NPA. In fact the AFP is confident, once again, that they can defat the NPA by 2022.
The chief of the Philippine military on Sunday expressed confidence that communist insurgency in the country will be wiped out by 2022 as the organization said 169 communist rebels have been killed so far this year while 4,777 have surrendered.
"As we (Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police) further improve our lines of cooperation, and with the cooperation of different stakeholders in peace and security, we are confident that we can meet our target of ending the communist scourge by 2022," Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, AFP Chief of Staff, said in a statement.
According to the Armed Forces' public affairs office, a total of 5,164 NPA members and supporters have been neutralized so far this year.
There is a lot of problems with this. First of all the AFP has conflated the numbers. Who among the 4,777 are actual NPA fighters and who are just rebel supporters? The difference is not insignificant. At the end of 2018 the AFP said over 10,000 had surrendered. Only 1,120 of those were actual NPA fighters while the rest were merely supporters. They also estimated at the time that there were about 3,000 regular NPA fighters left. But now they tell us 4,777 rebels have surrendered. Without parsing the numbers they do not add up.
Elsewhere I have shown this to be the case.
The AFP is also making the same pronouncements about the recent surredenr of 8 Abu Sayyaf fighters.
The military had declared a major victory against the homegrown terror group Abu Sayyaf without firing any shot.
Brig. Gen. William Gonzales, commander of the anti-terror Joint Task Force Sulu, said eight followers of Abu Sayyaf leader Abduljihad “Idang” Susukan had surrendered to Col. Antonio Bautista Jr., commander of the Army’s 1101st Brigade, on Wednesday (Sept. 23).
He identified the eight Abu Sayyaf men as Abdul Jihili, 28, Abu Yusop, 38, Sahira Sahibul, 28, Ali Jumsa, 38, Piedo Jumahari, 54, Mujib Jainal, 48, Abdul Abubakar, 34, and Ila Abbas, 47.
“The group of Idang Susukan had been decimated due to the surrender of these eight members,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales said the eight Abu Sayyaf men are being processed for social integration “to make them productive citizens of Sulu, and be part of the peace-building effort.”
Susukan is the man who surrendered to Misuari and flew to Davao on Duterte's jet in hopes, some allege, of obtaining amnesty from the President. He is currently in jail awaiting trial. It may or may not be the case that Susukan's group has been decimated but that is what the AFP wants the public to think. It is not the first time they have made such pronouncements about ASG which have turned out to be wrong.
Two more ASG terrorists also surrendered this week.
Two more members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) have surrendered amid the sustained focused military operation against the terrorist group in Sulu province, officials said Saturday.
Abu Jepoy and Abu Omar, residents of Patikul and Talipao, respectively, told the military they were convinced by their former comrade, Amah Adin, to surrender and take advantage of the reintegration programs being offered by the Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) of the two towns.
These two were convinced by their friend to surrender and take advantage of all the many benefits the government is throwing at surrenders. Who wouldn't want free money, free housing, and to be called a hero for doing nothing even after being an enemy of the state?
A very important ASG member was also apprehended this week.
A suspected member of a terrorist group and allegedly the trusted aide of Dawlah Islamiya caretaker Mudzrimar Mundi Sawadjaan was arrested in Zamboanga City over the weekend, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Camilo Cascolan said Monday.
Cascolan identified the suspect as Hashim Saripada alias Ibnu Kashir Saripada, who was arrested by operatives of Regional Intelligence Unit-9 and 84th Special Action Company (Seaborne) in Barangay Recodo around 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Cascolan said Saripada’s arrest is a big blow to Sawadjaan’s group.
“Saripada is the assistant of Mundi Sawadjaan, this will be a very, very big blow on him kasi nawalan siya ng isang pinagkakatiwalaan (he lost a trusted aide) and this one is his assistant so karamihan ng kanyang activities ngayon hindi na matutuloy(most of his activities have been shelved) because of that and he knows na mino-monitor na siya ngayon ng lahat ng (he's being monitored by all) intelligence and anti-terrorism units,” he said.
Sawadjaan is the mastermind behind the recent twin bombings in Jolo. The arrest of his right hand man could be a devastating blow if the AFP uses him to their utmost capability and squeeze all the information out of him that they can. The apprehension of Sawadjaan could be just around the corner.
Every terrorist who surrenders is one more terrorist the AFP is not forced to hunt down and kill. It's not as if the AFP is waiting with fingers crossed for every communist and Islamic terrorist to surrender thus saving them from the dirty work. They do go out hunting.
Government forces pursuing Daesh-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Maguindanao captured a hideout believed to be used by the lawless group as a staging area in Maguindanao, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID) here said Wednesday.
The 33rd Infantry Battalion, part of operating units under Joint Task Force Central (JTFC), discovered the abandoned lair Tuesday dawn at Barangay Saniag, Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, said Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, 6ID commander and head of JTFC.
“While scouring the area, ground troops found several anti-personnel mines intended to disrupt the movement of advancing military troops,” Uy said.
Seized at the abandoned lair were improvised bombs with the signature style of the BIFF, bomb-making components, electrical wires, cut nails and metal sheets as shrapnel, and personal belongings of the terrorists who presumably left hastily before government forces arrived.
The issue of the BIFF manufacturing IEDs and strewing them about has caused the AFP to increase their operations against them. Recently several soldiers and
even a farmer have died because they stepped on an IED. Apart from the BIFF lair described above the AFP found another BIFF bob king factory.
Government troops discovered on Friday a bomb-making factory of the Daesh-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the Maguindanao town of Ampatuan, an Army official said.
Recovered from the makeshift factory were one round of 105mm unexploded Howitzer cannon ordnance, a 60mm mortar projectile, bomb-making components, and propaganda materials.
“The troops immediately coordinated with the EOD team for proper dispositive action,” Uy told reporters here.
On Sept. 22, soldiers also overrun a lair of the BIFF in Barangay Saniag of the same municipality.
Uy said military operations against the BIFF radicals in the province are ongoing "without letup".
Operations against the NPA are also ongoing and relentless.
Intensified anti-insurgency operations jointly conducted by the Philippine Army and the police with the support of local government units (LGU) continue in Negros Island following the arrest of suspected top-ranking New People’s Army (NPA) leaders in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental over the weekend.
Col. Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade (303rd IBde) of the Philippine Army, in a telephone interview Tuesday morning, said the arrest of the suspected ranking leaders by the law enforcement units of the Guihulngan Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) is a “setback” to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
“Medyo maapektuhan din yung Central Negros 1 Front (the Central Negros 1 Front will be affected),” Pasaporte said, with the arrest of two its top-ranking leaders who have also been linked to previous murders in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.
The troops recovered from the suspects’ possession one 9mm Glock 17 pistol; three .45-caliber pistols; two hand grenades; one .357-caliber revolver with five serviceable ammunitions; 81 rounds of ammunition; six magazines assembled for caliber 9mm and .45-caliber pistols; one set of dental instruments; alleged NDF manuals; suspected subversive documents; and other items.
Is it really a setback though? How many NPA leaders have been killed or arrested in the past 50 years? And the rebellion still continues. It seems there is always someone to fill the leadership roles as needed.
Calling arrests or surrender setbacks which are decimating the various rebel groups is tantamount to propaganda, psyops. If you remember last week the AFP sponsored an anti-Communist rally put on by former rebels. This week Facebook deleted hundreds of pages allegedly linked to the AFP and PNP.
Facebook has shut down over 100 fake accounts traced to police and military units in the Philippines for engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior” (CIB), according to Nathaniel Gleicher, cybersecurity policy chief of the social media giant.
In an online press conference on Tuesday night, Gleicher said most of the content in the fake accounts — which were managed by people affiliated with various police and military agencies — revolved around criticism of the opposition, activism, and communism.
Gleicher said that the domestic network consisted of around 57 Facebook accounts, 31 pages, and 20 Instagram accounts. The sites had over 276,000 followers on Facebook and 55,000 on Instagram.
The network has been most active, he noted, since 2019 when discussions about the Anti-Terrorism Act were at their peak.
“They posted primarily in Filipino and English about local news and events, including domestic politics, the military’s activity against terrorism, the draft of the pending anti-terrorism bill, criticism of communism, youth activists and the opposition, criticism of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its military wing the New People’s Army, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines,” Gleicher said.
“We are attributing this network to the Philippine military and the Philippine police. In particular, we found links between, behind this network connected to both of these organizations and individuals associated with those organizations,” he added.
The PNP and AFP both deny any wrong doing and have distanced themselves from these Facebook pages. But why should anyone believe them? It's not as if they have not lied to the public before. Remember this?
Perhaps more damning to the AFP's credibility is what journalist Criselda Yabes has to say in her new book about the Marawi siege. From her author's note:
When I began writing the first draft of this book in July 2019, I knew I had more than enough to go by and yet, I could have also carried on searching for other lower-ranking officers down to the corporals and the privates who were at the frontlines. Every target, every objective, every major incident in the battle area was worth a book in itself. I wish the Armed Forces wold invest in such an undertaking without self-censorship, to have a better understanding of what went right or wrong. Each unit has an After-Review Report, as officially required, but in some cases it didn’t always match with the truth (how boldly they could defy their seniors!) For the first time in covering a major military event, I had to take detours at length and dig elsewhere for more accuracy. One officer joked that it would take me ten years to get to the bottom of everything.
The Battle of Marawi
The AFP lied in their reports about the Marawi siege. What else are they lying about?
