Insurgency: Kidnap of Minors

A few weeks ago the PNP rescued several IP (indigenous person) minors who had allegedly been taken against their will and the will of their parents to a school where they were being indoctrinated by the NPA.  

https://cnnphilippines.com/regional/2021/2/16/lumad-cebu-rescue-pnp.html

Police have arrested seven people in an operation in a top Cebu school on Monday, where they said 19 Lumad children from Davao del Norte were rescued from alleged kidnapping by a militant group.

According to authorities, parents claimed their children were taken by members of the Salugpungan Ta' Tanu Igkanogon without their consent and were told they would be brought to Davao City for their schooling. They were instead found to have been staying at a retreat house of the University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus in Cebu since 2018, police said.

In 2019, 55 schools operated and owned by the Salugpungan Ta' Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Centers in the Davao region were shut down by the Department of Education for allegedly teaching "left-leaning ideologies." Salugpungan claimed its schools were established to give indigenous groups in remote areas access to education. 

The police were accompanied by personnel from the Cebu City Social Welfare Development Office, the Women and Children Protection Center Visayas Field Unit, and the Children Protection Desk of the Cebu City Police Office.

"According to their parents, their children were taken by the members of Salugpungan Ta' Tanu Igkanogon without their knowledge and consent," Police Regional Office-7 Director PBGen. Ronnie Montejo said in a press conference at Camp Sergio Osmena Monday afternoon.

For nearly three years these children were separated from their parents and allegedly taught leftist ideologies. PNP Chief Sinas claimed some of these children were undergoing warfare training. The DSWS, who interviewed them, said that is false.

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2021/02/16/2078166/rescued-lumad-children-said-they-were-taught-reading-and-writing-not-warfare-training-cebu-dsws

The Department of Social Welfare Services belied the national police's claims that the 19 children "rescued" from a Lumad bakwit school in Cebu were being indoctrinated as communist rebels, saying none of the children mentioned "child warrior training" in their exit interviews with social workers. 

They were, the children themselves said, being taught reading and writing in a small nipa hut at the retreat house of the University of San Carlos-Talamban campus. 

This comes after no less than Police Gen. Debold Sinas, the chief of the Philippine National Police, claimed in a statement Monday that "some of the children told [Women and Children Protection Desk] investigators that they underwent some form of warfare training while in the custody of their handlers."

"We won't comment on that. The children never said that to us. Nothing about training to be child warriors," Annie Suico, a social welfare officer with the Cebu City DSWS who was present when the operation was conducted, said in mixed Filipino and English in a phone interview with Philstar.com. 

"We interviewed all of the children. They said nothing about being indoctrinated. Sulat at basa lang ang tinuturo ng mga guardian nila (All their guardians taught them were reading and writing)." 

On the contrary, she said, the children were assessed to be in good condition by the time they were supposedly rescued before their interviews. 

She was, however, careful to point out that these were only "initial interviews" where social workers "gathered limited data using our basic intake sheet." 

Now it's the PNP's word versus the DSWS' word. But the DSWS admits that they only gathered limited data while doing a basic intake. I won't try to determine who is right. Oddly enough 4 of the parents of these minors were later kidnapped by the NPA.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131681

Four parents belonging to the Ata Manobo tribe are being held by suspected communist rebels, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, Gen. Debold Sinas, said.

The parents were among the eight Ata Manobo parents who were supposed to meet up with the police in Sitio Kamingawan, Talaingod, Davao del Norte on Monday for their trip to Cebu City, Sinas said in a news release issued late Tuesday.

However, only two parents showed up, he said, citing reports from Police Regional Office 11 (Davao region).

Sinas said they later learned that four parents were taken on Sunday by suspected organizers of communist front groups who introduced themselves as police officers.

“Obviously, these four parents were lured into believing they would be meeting with their children in Cebu when they were taken by persons who disguised themselves as police officers. I can only surmise that this is part of desperate moves by the communist front organizations to get away from the criminal liability of serious illegal detention and child exploitation,” Sinas said.

Whatever the case with these minors is the fact is the NPA does employ child warriors.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1132014

A ranking military official dismissed claims made by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) that it is not involved in the kidnapping of minors or children.

"Marco Valbuena, Chief Information Officer of the CPP, denies NPA kidnapping of children exists. Wow! Where is this denial coming from? From Utrecht, Netherlands? Let's refresh Valbuena of just a few of these kidnappings of minors by the NPAs," said Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr., Southern Luzon Command (SolCom) chief, in a statement sent to the Philippine News Agency Thursday.

In debunking Valbuena's denial, he cited the case of Mary Jane Ganay alias "Elsie", who surrendered to the government with the help of the clergy in Oriental Mindoro in December 2020.

He added that in Elsie’s testimony, she claimed that she was only invited to attend the wedding of NPA member Daisylyn Castillo alias "Tikya" and Marjun Malucon, alias "Warren" in Sitio Mantay, Barangay Monteclaro, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, not knowing that she will be held against her will.

"After the said wedding, she was never allowed to return (home) and she was only 16 years old during that time. She underwent courses and trained with NPAs, got pregnant, raped, until her surrender in 2020," said Parlade, who is also a spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

He also mentioned the cases involving Layag Sanyuan alias "Layka", Helen Villanueva alias "Jenny", Maylin Ligduman alias "Joan" who are all minors who surrendered with four others after their leader Lorelyn Saligumba alias "Farah", reportedly a member of the Morong 38, was killed in an encounter in Baco, Oriental Mindoro in June 2020.

"They were asked to fetch water, bring backpacks of NPAs to the mountains, and were never allowed to return to their homes.

These minors, aged 15-17 became communists, married fellow NPA members to protect themselves from being raped, until they had a chance to escape and surrender to the government’s pastor friends. 

“Alias 'Joan' was forced to marry NPA (member) Nilo Ligduman alias 'Roel', also a minor. Alias 'Jenny', on the other hand, was forced to marry Renante Villanueva alias 'Rens/Joe'," he added.

"I can go on Valbuena, but the CHR and DSWD can also provide you a more complete list of NPA child warriors who were forced to have sex with NPAs while they were minors. And that will fall either as qualified or statutory rape, Mr. Valbuena. That's a double major offense, and no amount of denying will exonerate your terrorist colleagues,"  he added.

No matter how you slice it this is bad. Kidnapping minors, forcing them into marriages, raping them etc, etc. There is nothing good about this. Duterte has told the AFP to rescue child warriors.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131809

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has called on the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to retrieve children, who were allegedly recruited by the New People’s Army (NPA) to become armed guerrillas, and return them to their parents.

“Itong mga NPA, kinukuha nila 'yung mga anak, dinadala nila sa ibang lugar. Kunin ninyo 'yung bata at isauli ninyo sa nanay pati tatay (These NPA rebels, they recruit the sons and daughters and bring them to different places. Bring them back to their mothers and fathers) because a child, a minor, should not be separated from the family home,” Duterte said in a situation briefing in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur on Tuesday night.

Duterte said soldiers do not need to have search warrants to enter the lairs of NPA terrorists who allegedly mold children into communist warriors.

“If the child is inside the house, there is already a crime committed, so you do not need a warrant to go in. Puntahan mo sa loob, kunin 'yung mga bata at isauli mo (Go inside, take the children, and bring them back) at the earliest opportunity,” Duterte added.

He said he would assume full responsibility in executing the war against insurgency.

That sounds a lot like the drug war and we all know how that has progressed.

Otherwise the insurgency continues ever on and on. One of they ways to end the NPA, so they say, is to build access roads.  Farm to market roads.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131574

Improved access to far-flung villages in Borongan City, Eastern Samar is the key to wiping out the local communist terrorist group that has been threatening communities in the past five decades, Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda said on Tuesday.

Speaking to members of the provincial task force to end the local communist armed conflict (ELCAC), Agda said terrorist activities of the New People’s Army (NPA) will continue for as long as some upland communities are hard to reach.

“People from remote barangays need us, people in the government. They need interventions, but all our planned interventions will be limited to none if we can hardly reach them, and if their needs remain unabated, resentment, division could prevail,” he said.

He cited the city’s Pinanag-an village with more than a thousand families.

This remotest village is about a three-hour motorboat ride from the city’s wharf passing through five villages. The long river is the only access to the village, about 23 kilometers away from the city.

The remotest village being a three-hour boat ride away is pretty outrageous. I'd imagine a concrete road would not help them.  But other villages need roads and the NPA is trying to stymie their construction.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131826

The Police Regional Office in Caraga Region (PRO-13) on Thursday (Feb. 25) condemned the communist New People’s Army (NPA) for burning two units of heavy equipment utilized for the construction of a vital farm-to-market road (FMR) project in Surigao del Norte.

PRO-13 Director, Brig. Gen. Romeo M. Caramat Jr., said the burning took place at around 11 am Wednesday in Barangay Binocaran, Malimono town.

The dump truck and a backhoe, owned by CV Construction based in Surigao City, cost more or less PHP5.9 million.

“At least seven armed men poured gasoline and torched the dump truck and the backhoe,” Caramat said.

He said the suspects are reportedly members of the Guerrilla Front (GF) 16B of the NPA Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee (NEMRC).

“The construction of the FMR project in Binocaran is temporarily stalled because of the attack. The NPA showed anew its true color of being a terrorist group and anti-peace and development. They deserve our shared condemnation,” Caramat said.

He added that the FMR is vital for the farmers and fishermen in connecting them to market centers to deliver their produce.

“Most of the common folks in the area will directly benefit from that FMR project considering that their primary source of living is farming and fishing. They thrive by selling agricultural and fisheries products from the barangays to the markets and the consumers,” Caramat said.

Perhaps they should have built those roads long ago. Is it really the insurgency that has hampered development in the Philippines? There has been all kinds of growth in the Philippines over the past 50 years. Why have the most remote places not benefited from that? Some of those villages don't even have access to clean running water and as a result people die from diarrhea outbreaks. Surely there are more factors at play than just the NPA. What will happen when they are gone? Will these places really see an influx of infrastructure construction?

More villaged have declared the NPA persona-non-grata.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131985

Thirteen barangays in Capiz and Iloilo provinces, classified as under the influence of the communist terrorist group (CTG), have joined the list of local government units (LGUs) in Panay island that have denounced the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) this February.

The villages are among the 49 barangays in Panay yet to be declared as cleared from the influence of the CTGs, said Major Cenon Pancito III, spokesperson for the 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army (PA) in a phone interview on Friday. Panay is comprised of the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, and Antique.

“For us to complete the liberation of Panay we have to clear all affected barangays,” he said.

Of the 49 barangays, 43 are in Iloilo, two in Aklan, and four in Capiz.

Two are in Aklan?? Does that mean there are NPA in Boracay?? 

The army is using new techniques to persuade NPA fighters to surrender.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131996

The Philippine Army’s 14th Civil-Military Operations (CMO) Battalion has stepped up its anti-insurgency campaign through the deployment of a mobile audio-visual system (MAVS) in various rural communities.

In Negros Occidental, the unit has assembled the first of the three MAVS on board a four-wheel drive military truck.

Maj. Arturo Dumalagan, commanding officer of the 14th CMO based in Murcia, Negros Occidental, said on Friday since they launched the initiative earlier this month, the mobile facility has been traveling to barangays in Cauayan and Hinobaan towns benefiting from the Army’s community support program.

“This innovation will address the need to dominate the information environment, especially in communities mostly affected by the false information fed to them by the left-leaning organizations allied with the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army - National Democratic Front,” Dumalagan said.

Dumalagan said they initially used the mobile loudspeaker system but eventually saw the need to also show videos to the people in the communities.

“We are showing the recorded interviews of former rebels to raise awareness among the youth, especially minors, who are targets for CPP-NPA recruitment,” he said.

The AFP is driving around blasting video and airing interviews of former rebels to raise awareness against the NPA. Apparently it has been effective because the battalion who is deploying it won an award last year. They are winning hearts and minds.

Fear is also an effective weapon. Remember when the mayor of Matuguinao, Samar gave all the rebels in his area an ultimatum to surrender? Some of them heeded that call.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131582

At least 118 former members of the New People’s Army (NPA) and their staunch supporters formally yielded to the Philippine Army and the local government of Matuguinao, Samar, a military official said on Tuesday. 

All, including nine village officials, joined the mass surrender ceremony at the town hall on Feb. 19, four days after the ultimatum set by Mayor Aran Boller. 

Last January, the mayor gave NPA members and die-hard supporters until Feb. 15 to submit themselves to the authorities. Those who failed to surrender will be declared persona non-grata or face charges of supporting a terrorist group. 

Some 353 town residents were identified by the local government and the military as NPA members and supporters. 

Among them, only 195 have been subjected to tactical interrogation, said Lt. Col. Jasper Pecson, commander of the 19th Infantry Battalion. 

Of the 195, only 118 attended the mass surrender ceremony.

“The campaign is still a success because those who surrendered are officials in their respective villages who have influences,” Pecson said in a phone interview.

Perhaps the rest of those tagged as NPA members and supporters will surrender and avail of all the free money, housing, and job training the government is offering.