Let's start off with a word from the CPP concerning the AFP's alleged fake news.
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| https://cpp.ph/statements/expose-spate-of-afp-fake-news/ |
There is a recent spate of fake news churned out by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to cover up crimes and abuses committed by its units and hide embarrassing misencounters and battlefield losses. AFP fake news is sibling to AFP red-tagging. Waging psywar and promoting disinformation, the AFP has repeatedly proved itself to be a tainted source.
The AFP website “Kalinaw News” is a portal for false information that fall under the military’s department of psywar and disinformation. It routinely issues news stories claiming New People’s Army losses. They even provide photos of supposed materials left by the NPA from rifles to computers and cellphones to make it appear that the news is genuine.
The AFP has several objective in manufacturing fake news including:
a) to cover-up crimes of extrajudicial killings of peasant activists where victims are presented as NPA fighters killed in battle
b) to cover-up incidents of misencounters between AFP units or between AFP and PNP units
c) to claim successful combat operations for reporting to military higher headquarters
d) to demoralize, create confusion and cause anxiety among the the people and revolutionary forces by projecting false information about NPA losses in the battlefield.
– 11th IB reports a 15-minute gun battle with Red fighters in Sitio Balaskan, Barangay Napacao, Siaton last February 14, 2021. Supposedly seized from the encounter are weapons, a laptop and other gadgets. NPA-Southeast Negros has reported that no encounter took place.
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| https://dailyguardian.com.ph/army-seize-firearms-from-negros-oriental-rebels/ |
Military troopers of the 11th Infantry Battalion (IB) recovered firearms following a clash with suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) at Sitio Balaskan, Barangay Napacao, Siaton, Negros Oriental last Sunday.
The 11th IB launched relentless Focused Military Operations (FMOs) in response to reports from some concerned residents on the alleged armed group’s presence in the area.
However, they encountered six unidentified armed men believed to be remnants of the Southeast Front, Komiteng Rehiyon Negros, Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor (SEF, KR – NCBS) that resulted to a 15-minute firefight.
According to the Army, no casualty was reported on the government side, while an undetermined number of casualties from the enemy side were reported due to the bloodstains seen in their withdrawal route.
Recovered from the encounter site were an M16 rifle, a .45 caliber pistol, laptop, five cellular phones, personal belongings, and subversive documents containing high intelligence value.
According to the Army the encountered six men and engaged with them in a 15-minute firefight. The Army says there were an undetermined number of NPA casualties based on "bloodstains seen in their withdrawal route." Then they say they recovered a laptop, five cellphones, and other items. The CPP says this never happened.
While it is impossible to say whether or not this event happened there are questions that the report raises. How did the Army encounter these men? Was this a hideout or NPA lair? Were these men just hanging out in the bush? Why were no bodies recovered if the Army thought there were casualties? Did anyone follow the bloody trail? That there was so much stuff recovered makes it appear that this was a hideout or lair but the report does not tell us. It could be true it could be false. It certainly does not help the AFP that they have been caught faking pictures of surrenderees.
One thing that the AFP cannot fake is the clearing of NPA presence and influence from various barangays. The NPA is either there or not. The NTF-ELCAC says there are at least 822 barnagays cleared of NPA influence and presence which will be receiving P20 million each.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1403680/duterte-begins-distribution-of-p20-million-to-npa-free-barangays |
In a speech in Cagayan de Oro City on Friday, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, who is also vice-chairman of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), said that 822 barangays nationwide are set to receive P20 million as a “reward” for ridding their localities of NPA rebels.
“I pardon sir for sharing this, but you wanted to start the program immediately but COVID-19 came in kaya nagkaroon ng delay (that’s why it was delayed). But today, we have the funds for the barangay development program for 822 barangays,” Esperon said.
“We have 822 barangays under NPA influence cleared from 2016 to 2019. One hundred nineteen of these are in Region 10, iyong mga barangay captain, they are here to symbolically receive,” he added.
The P20 million incentive will be form of farm to market roads, classrooms, electrification projects, health centers, water systems, communal irrigation projects, among others, Esperon said.
While it is good that these barangays will be receiving money to develop necessary roads and classrooms it is horrendous that this move is being treated like a reward. The government has a duty to be continually developing the country. What are people paying taxes for if they see no return, no investment in their community? There is a massive need for proper roads, classrooms, and water purification systems throughout the far flung areas of the nation. People regularly die from diarrhea outbreaks. Money for development should not be withheld and only distributed as a reward for NPA influence being cleared. Besides, the destruction of the NPA is the job of the AFP.
Duterte says kill them all.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1403556/duterte-order-to-police-military-on-reds-kill-them-all |
“If there’s an encounter and you see them armed, kill, kill them, don’t mind human rights, I will be the one to go to prison, I don’t have qualms,” said the President, who ranted at rebels throughout his speech while dangling houses, jobs and food to those who would surrender.
“I have lots of houses built all over the Philippines,” the President said in a speech mostly delivered in Cebuano.
“I release money for those of you who understood that what you were doing—asking money from the poor was wrong,” he said, referring to the NPA’s collection of so-called revolutionary taxes.
Duterte repeated a claim he made that rebels made an impossible demand—a coalition government—which he said was not negotiable.
“The leadership of Sison submitted a document, which was not very clear but somehow could lead to a coalition government but it’s non-negotiable for me, so there’s no hope of ending this insurgency, I will try,” he said, referring to Jose Maria Sison, founder of CPP who is in exile in The Netherlands.
Out of one side of his mouth Duterte says kill them all and forget about human rights and out of the other side he says he will give houses and food to those who surrender. It's an interesting claim that he says Sison submitted a document to him which laid out the plan for a coalition government and that he says such a scenario is not going to happen and there is no hope of ending the insurgency. The CASER agreement which the CPP Is adamant about enacting is just as nonnegotiable yet the government had been in peace talks with the CPP for some time.
There is hope the insurgency will end but certainly not any time soon. Not with the NPA continuing to fight, not with front groups spread all around the country, not with the hundreds of thousands of reds the NICA claims has inflated the government. Nevertheless the government is confident they are on track to end communism by June 2022.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1132715 |
“The work continues and must be pursued with greater commitment and passion as the deadline set by the President, President Duterte, to ELCAC is by 2022. Less than 15 months na lang (We only have 15 months to do that). So to be exact, less than one year from now,” Andanar, who also led the NTF-ELCAC’s communications team, said.
Andanar’s assurance came, as acknowledged that the whole-of-nation approach to end local communism has become instrumental in the return of hundreds of communist insurgents in different parts of the region to the fold of the law.
He also stressed that the Convergence Areas for Peace and Development (CAPDev) has transformed the once conflict-affected areas into “peaceful and productive communities.”
“I want to highlight that the barangay development program is very strategic with our CAPDev program which is our way to revisit and reorient ourselves on who and where our enemies operate,” Andanar said.
The CAPDev is a program that aims to address the root causes of insurgencies, internal disturbances and tensions, and other armed conflicts and threats.
The CAPDev program also promotes the establishment of durable peace and development and empowers communities in priority areas through peace-building and reconciliation, good governance and institution building, and socio-economic transformation.
Barangay development is very important which is why the government should be continually engaged in development projects and not just as a "reward" for being cleared of NPA influence. Given the diffuse nature of the insurgency it is highly unlikely that it will end by 2022. Remember there are all the many alleged front groups perhaps including even members of the House. The picture the AFP paints, especially Parlade, is that the Reds have deep roots in academia, the government, the media, and elsewhere. They are everywhere.
One thing that is crucial to end the insurgency is proper intel. That includes gathering, assessing, appreciating, and acting upon all intel collected by the PNP and AFP. They have a real problem handling intel.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1402241/poor-intel-not-old-law-to-blame-for-terror-acts |
Poor intelligence work and law enforcement operations should be blamed for the government’s failure to prevent terrorist attacks in the country and not the supposed weaknesses of the previous antiterrorism law, former Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
At the resumption of oral arguments on 37 petitions opposing the terror law, lawyers of the petitioners reiterated that the Filipinos’ basic rights as enshrined in the Constitution should be safeguarded from an “overbroad” law that threatens the Bill of Rights.
“In my very humble view, the HSA is enough to deter terrorism. What is really lacking is good police work and good intelligence work,” Cadiz said in response to a question from Zalameda.
“I think these are solely lacking in our jurisdiction,” the former primary state lawyer said. “[HSA] is enough to be able to combat terrorism. What should be encouraged [and] strengthened is good intelligence and police work.”
He said the old law was “better” than the new antiterror law since it listed predicate crimes, or criminal offenses committed in carrying out terror acts such as murder, piracy and rebellion.
"Good police work and good intelligence work." Both are crucial to ending the insurgency. Both are sorely lacking and not just in regards to the PNP and AFP. The NTF-ECLAC routinely makes overgeneralized or out right false claims about people and groups tagging them as communists or communist supporters.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/03/03/2081722/irked-rappler-fact-checks-ntf-elcac-sees-red |
A spokesperson of the controversial anti-communist task force created by President Rodrigo Duterte red-tagged yet another media outlet, this time over articles that corrected false claims on Lumads and an indigenous school that caters to them.
National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson Lorraine Badoy labeled Rappler “a friend and ally” and “mouthpiece” of communist rebels in separate Facebook posts where she aired her grievances over two fact-check articles by the online news outlet.
Badoy also accused Rappler of lying and defending communist rebels for essentially debunking claims using verifiable facts.
In a statement posted on social media, Rappler said it is in no way defending the NPA through its fact checks.
This is not the first time that Badoy claimed communist influence at a news outlet that was just doing its job.
In November 2020, following the onslaught of back-to-back typhoons, Badoy red-tagged CNN Philippines for reposting a call for donations by the League of Filipino Students, which she baselessly called a “known communist front.”
The TV network pushed back against Badoy, saying that the storms should prompt Filipinos to unite in the spirit of “bayanihan,” rather than “foray into red-tagging that will only sow disunity.”
It simply is not helpful to go around calling everyone you disagree with a communist. Especially not the people in charge of the NTF-ELCAC such as Badoy and Parlade. It only breeds mistrust between the people and the government.
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