It's the end of the year which is the proper time for the AFP to release year-end assessments of the fight against the insurgency.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1123994 |
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Monday said it continues to win the war against communist insurgency in the country as it has neutralized over 7,000 members of the communist terrorist New People's Army (NPA) so far this year.
"From January this year, mahigit 7,000 na ang ating na-neutralize na NPA. Karamihan dyan ay nag-surrender, mga 6,600. Then 1,991 ang nasawi sa mga engkwentro with security forces at 250 naman ang na-apprehend. (we have neutralized more than 7,000 NPA members. Around 6,600 of them surrendered, 1,991 died in clashes with security forces and 250 were apprehended)," AFP chief-of-staff Gen. Gilbert Gapay said in a Laging Handa briefing.
He added that government troops have seized over 1,500 firearms in various security operations against communist terrorists.
"What we want to highlight is the confiscation of 491 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by communist terrorists. The NPA continues to use landmines and IEDs bagama't pinagbabawal ito sa (even if these are prohibited under the) International Humanitarian Law," Gapay added.
Gapay, meanwhile, reported that from Jan. 1 to Dec. 4 this year, government forces have neutralized 187 members of the Abu Sayyaf Group and seized 134 firearms from them in intensified security operations.
A total of 232 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters were also neutralized since the start of this year who yielded a total of 193 firearms.
He added that military troops has also neutralized 61 members of the ISIS-inspired Maute Group and recovered 52 firearms from them.
That number is rather astounding. How many are actual NPA fighters and how many are mere supporters? They do not say but that distinction is very important. I have written about this extensively and will not repeat myself here. See this article for reference. The gist is that when the AFP reports these numbers they do not make the distinction so it appears that the NPA is dwindling when the opposite is true. This number should be taken with a huge grain of salt until all the data can be viewed.
It should also be kept in mind that in February 2017 the DND said there were 5,000 NPA fighters in the country while in January 2018 the AFP said there were only 3,500 NPA fighters. For 7,000 to have been neutralized this year and to still remain a substantial threat means the NPA has experienced exponential growth.
As far as the other numbers go BIFF and ASG still pose a serious threat but their actual numbers are not readily available. Some reports I have covered, like the US DoD's Operation Pacific Eagle quartlery reports, put the numbers at roughly 500-400 each.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/12/20/2-abu-sayyaf-sub-leaders-13-members-surrender-in-sulu-military |
Fifteen members of the Abu Sayyaf Group, including two of their sub-leaders, surrendered to Joint Task Force Sulu on Friday, the Western Mindanao Command said.
“The two sub-leaders were identified as Alvin Yusop, a.k.a. Arab Puti under senior leader Radulan Sahiron; and Barahim Nurjahar under deceased senior leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan,” Wesmincom Commander Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan said in a statement.
The military said Arab Puti was involved in kidnapping operations and was a close-in aide of Sahiron. His family convinced him to surrender because his mother had suffered stroke. He also wants to take care of his 4 children.
Meanwhile, Barahim Nurjahar was allegedly behind the kidnapping of the sister of a Sulu town mayor, Wesmincom said. For his surrender, he approached the Moro Islamic Liberation Front Jikiri faction who then linked him to the military.
Maj. Gen. William Gonzales, commander of the Army’s 11th Infantry Division, said the surrendered terrorists would be given “full on-integration program” with livelihood aid.
Gonzales told those who surrendered that the Army is coordinating with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process and the governor of Sulu “so that you can start a new life.”
“Tell the others that they are welcome so long as they are sincere, willing to face the rule of law, and most of all ready to cooperate in our fight for peace here in Sulu,” he told the surrendered ASG members.
Sahiron is one of the most of wanted terrorists listed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States. He played a role in the 2001 kidnapping of three U.S. citizens and 17 Filipinos from Dos Palmas, a resort in Palawan. Several of the hostages were killed.
The man Barahim Nurjahar worked under, Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, is responsible for the Jolo cathedral bombing. The AFP reported that Sawadjaan likely died after a firefight on July 6th but they have found no body and no grave. It could be that he is still alive just like Hapilion was still alive even after the AFP reported on his death a few months before the Marawi siege. Whether he is alive or dead he still has his own faction in Abu Sayyaf. The other faction is controlled by Sahirion. The difference between the two comes down to methods. Sahirion is not keen on admitting foreigners while Sawadjaan is. It appears that these two men are collaborating and that is bad news.
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| https://jamestown.org/brief/radullan-sahiron-is-the-abu-sayyaf-leader-partnering-with-islamic-state-in-the-philippines/ |
Sahiron has seemingly avoided closer ties to Islamic State’s affiliates in the Philippines since the first ASG factions made their oaths to former Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014 due to an aversion to hosting foreign fighters and a predilection toward focusing on criminal activities and minimizing risks. Sawadjaan, meanwhile, has introduced foreign fighters—something Sahiron has opposed—and suicide bombing tactics to the insurgency in Sulu.
Increasing pressure from the AFP is pushing Sahiron closer to Sawadjaan’s IS-EA, as indicated by their recent collaborations. ASG factions are organized within familial and clan-based cells, so the fact that family members of both leaders have reportedly worked for the other side is indicative of a growing integration between the factions. Should the two formally combine their forces, it would change the dynamic of the insurgency for the worst, augmenting the number of fighters the insurgency is able to place in the field while potentially simplifying their chain-of-command. Furthermore, it could act as a beacon to other extremists in the Philippines and the wider region, especially should Sahiron acquiesce to Sawadjaan’s policy of allowing foreign fighters to join the group. Differences in policies, leadership styles, and the continued domination of familial-based faction within ASG are likely to keep these leaders and their followers from fully integrating their operations, but their cooperation will, at the very least, hurt the AFP’s mission of stabilizing this volatile province.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1124388 |
On a scale of 1 to 10, the government is now at 9.5 in terms of winning the war against the communist terrorist group (CTG), an official of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said on Thursday.
Lt. Gen. Antonio G. Parlade Jr., NTF-ELCAC spokesperson, was one of the speakers during the first Panay Peace Summit hosted by Passi City and attended by around 1,500 participants on the ground and through video-conferencing.
In the press conference following the short program, Parlade said what is lacking is the filing of cases against the CTGs.
He added that they are always being asked why no cases were filed against the CTG, but he said it will follow.
Parlade was presented with 128 judicial affidavits of former rebels from Panay that were gathered by the legal cooperation cluster of the regional task force led by Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales.
The affidavits will be used to file cases against the New People’s Army (NPA) CTG.
It's not clear on what Parlade is basing this assessment but it is clear that he thinks filing cases against the NPA would take the score to a perfect 10. One does not want to belittle any gains the AFP has made but if 7,000 NPA fighters were neutralized this year while many more remain on the loose and in 2018 there were only 3,500 NPA fighters then it's pretty clear that hardly any gains are being made as the ranks of the NPA have more than doubled in the space of two years!
Funny that so many municipalities are declaring the NPA person-non-grata but not the BIFF or ASG.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1370609/cpp-npa-ndf-members-declared-persona-non-grata-in-1546-lgus-dilg |
A total of 1,546 local government units (LGUs) nationwide have declared members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) as persona non grata in their localities, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Friday.
In a statement, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said that out of the 1,715 LGUs nationwide, 1,546 of these — namely 64 provinces, 110 cities and 1,372 municipalities — have passed resolutions declaring members of the group as persona non grata.
Meanwhile, the remaining 169 LGUs, Año added, are in “various stages of deliberation in their respective provincial, city, and municipal councils.”
The DILG said that based on its records, six out of the 17 regions nationwide have already reached a 100 percent declaration of persona non grata to the CPP-NPA-NDF members, namely Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) and Cordillera Administrative Region.
“Much like the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to finally end this very old problem using a whole-of-nation approach, and the support from our LGUs gives us great assurance that we are not alone in this war against these atheists, Maoists terrorists,” Año said.
The DILG chief added that he is expecting more LGUs to declare the communist rebels persona non grata.
“The DILG is looking forward to seeing more LGUs join us in this fight against Communist terrorism. We cannot allow these groups to continue killing people, the time has come to finally put an end to their wicked ways,” he added.
Elsewhere in Negros Occidental the AFP claims 77 villages have been cleared of the NPA. They will all eventually be participating in the DILG's new TV Arlan Series.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1124289 |
An initial 25 insurgency-cleared barangays in Negros Occidental received television sets with learning modules during the launch of the Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP) TV Aralan Series of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) here on Wednesday.
The recipients are part of the first batch out of the 77 cleared villages in the province.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the activity is proof that the government works to further programs, services, and policies that empower Negrenses to attain common goals for peace and progress.
“I consider the RCSP as a great opportunity to address the root causes of local armed conflict and tensions,” the governor said in his message before the agency officials, mayors, and barangay officials during the launching rites held at the L’ Fisher Hotel.
Lacson noted the program prioritizes the delivery of basic services and social development assistance and facilitates participatory initiative of all sectors in the attainment of the country’s peace agenda.
As part of the RCSP, the TV Aralan Series is being implemented by the DILG-Western Visayas in partnership with the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC).
In using the TV sets and learning modules, the barangays will be guided in crafting their Barangay Development Plan as well as learn about the peace and development programs and projects that they could avail.
34 barangays in Iloilo also availed of this TV Aralan Series which is literally the DILG handing out 32'' TV sets to keep the barangays abreast of anti-communist programs.
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| https://www.iloilo.gov.ph/education/34-iloilo-brgys-get-32”-smart-tv-sets-dilg |
From the DILG's Facebook page:
Thirty-six (36) punong barangays from the Province of Iloilo and six (6) punong barangays from the City of Iloilo received smart televisions. This will keep their community abreast of the various programs, projects and activities of the department and other member agencies of the Regional Task Force – End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) as regards peace and development.
What an incredible waste of money. Is there no other way for the DILG to provide this information to LGUs without providing them with expensive TV's which will no doubt be used for watching TV and movies! Or will the TVs be programmed to only receive programs from the DILG? The internet would be more cost-effective.
What is the best way to secure villages cleared of the NPA? Why to have ex-rebels to secure them of course.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1124358 |
Former New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Malapatan town, Sarangani province are taking up arms anew not to fight the government but help secure their own communities.
Malapatan Mayor Salway Sumbo Jr. said Thursday that the local government has enlisted over 20 rebel returnees from the Blaan tribe to serve as peacekeepers in its upland barangays, especially those situated in the border areas.
Dubbed as “Kamlung Banwe,” a Blaan term for defenders, he said the unit was created in coordination with the Archers Alpha Company of the Philippine Army’s 73rd Infantry Battalion.
“They will serve as our territorial boundary forces and will help our troops in maintaining peace and order in our mountainous borders,” he said in a report.
Sumbo said the peacekeeping units would be deployed to help counter the movements of rebel forces and other armed groups operating in the area.
He said its members are from Barangays Kinam and Upper Suyan, which are situated at the town’s borders with Don Marcelino and Jose Abad Santos in Davao Occidental.
Sumbo said they have supplied the members of the peacekeeping unit with uniforms and initial food supplies.
As approved by the municipal council, he said its members will receive a monthly allowance from the local government.
Sumbo said the creation of the “Kamlung Banwe” was prioritized by the municipal government to strengthen its peace and order initiatives as well as support the development efforts in its upland and remote areas. It is also part of the town’s flagship “Serbisyong Segurado sa Kalinaw” program and the task force to end local communist armed conflict.
You know what they say, It takes a thief to catch a thief.
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