insurgency: Kill Terrorism

This week the name of the game is "surrender." No, not the Cheap Trick song. Though some would say this is cheap trick by the AFP. I'm talking about rebels laying down their arms.  The AFP claims that since Duterte took office, for some reason all statistics about the insurgency seem to start with when the current president took office rather than offer a wholistic analysis of the problem, is upwards of 18K.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1142270

A military official said July 2016 to May 2021 saw the return of close to 18,000 communist rebels and supporters to the government fold.

Navy Captain Ferdinand Buscato, executive director of the government’s Task Force Balik-Loob, said the 17,958 returnees from July 1, 2016 to May 28, 2021 include 3,684 New People's Army (NPA) regulars, 2,039 members of the Militia ng Bayan, 1,736 from underground mass organizations, 636 from Sangay ng Partido sa Lokalidad, and 7,074 communist mass supporters.

Some 2,789 supporters are still being validated and verified by the Joint Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) Intelligence Committee (JAPIC).

This report says 3,684 NPA regulars have surrendered since 2016. That sounds like great news. But NTF-ELCAC spokesman Esperon says there are 4,000 NPA regulars left.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1439527/esperon-sees-police-leading-counterinsurgency-if-npa-numbers-fall-by-1500-fighters

The police could take the lead role in dealing with communist insurgency once New People’s Army (NPA) strength has declined by 1,500 fighters, according to National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon on Monday (May 31).

There are still currently 4,000 regular NPA members, according to Esperon, who is also vice chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac).

“Personally, this is just personal, if we could reduce the strength by another 1,500 then they can become a concern for the police, like they are already bandits,” Esperson said at an online press briefing.

While police and military have reported the surrender of thousands of fighters and supporters of CPP-NPA since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in 2016, Esperon said rebels continued to be active in recruitment.

He said recruitment by members of NPA and underground communist groups continues among farmers, fishermen, workers and “very especially students.”

“So there’s resupply,” Esperon said. “Many people continue to be deceived of the promises of this long-running insurgency that seems to have no ending at all,” he said.

This article exemplifies everything that is wrong with how the AFP's handling the insurgency. First of all it should never be a police matter. Why would the AFP hand the reins over to the PNP just because the number of rebels falls to a certain level? There are far less Abu Sayyaf and BIFF fighters but the AFP has not handed that fight to the PNP.  The AFP actually did this very thing in 2011 when they turned over security operations in 23 provinces to LGUs because the NPA had become "so insignificant."

AFP public affairs chief  Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. said the presence of NPA guerrillas in these provinces had become so insignificant that the military had turned over the job of maintaining security in these areas to the local government  units. 

“These are indicators that there is now unhampered progress in these provinces without major incidents of violence and extortion by the NPA rebels,” he said in a phone interview. 

“We can’t say there’s zero presence but we can say that it is no longer significant,” Burgos said. 

Only “less than 5,000” NPA rebels remain in the countryside waging their decadeslong revolution, he said.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2019/09/martial-law-insurgent-free.html

In every single one of those provinces the NPA was able to regroup and reform because the AFP failed to go the distance and finish the job.

Second of all is that Esperon admits the NPA is actively recruiting members and that their ranks are growing. If there are 4,000 left and 3,000 have surrendered since 2016 that means beginning in 2016 they were at 7,000. But in 2010 the AFP estimated their numbers at less than 5,000. This on-going recruitment belies the AFP's assertions that the NPA is weakening and lays bare their repeated and baseless assertion that the NPA is irrelevant as a total lie. If they can attract recruits and grow their ranks then they are neither irrelevant nor desperate to recover their influence. It would seem they never lost their influence.

For instance, in a tragic act of violence a football player was killed when he and his friend encountered an IED planted by the NPA. The AFP says the use of IEDs, or anti-personnel mines, are a sign of weakness.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1142805

A ranking military official in the Bicol Region said the recent anti-personnel mine (APM) blast that killed two civilians and wounded another in Masbate is a manifestation of communist terrorist groups’ (CTGs) weakening capability as they can no longer face the security forces head-on.

Army Major Gen. Henry A. Robinson, Joint Task Force (JTF) Bicolandia commander, in a statement Sunday, strongly condemned the terrorist attack as he extended his condolences to the bereaved family of Kieth Absalon, 21, a promising football player of the Far Eastern University, and his cousin Nolven Absalon, 40. Kieth’s 16-year-ol nephew, Chrisbin Absalon sustained injuries.

The fact is the NPA has been using landmines for decades. IEDs are nothing new to them. Here is a report from 2006 about the NPA's use of landmines.

http://archives.the-monitor.org/index.php/publications/display?url=lm/2006/philippines.html

Key developments since May 2005:  The rebel New People’s Army stepped up its use of command-detonated improvised antivehicle mines, resulting in many more casualties. Landmine Monitor media analysis found 145 mine/IED casualties reported in 2005, a nearly 300 percent increase on the 47 casualties reported in 2004. The Armed Forces of the Philippines reported seizures of antipersonnel and antivehicle mines from the NPA. 

NPA admits that it produces explosive devices for use in warfare, claiming it has “strict standards in producing and employing” them. In November 2005, a spokesperson for the CPP-NPA-NDFP, Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal, said that the rebel group makes improvised explosives out of materials salvaged from World War II-vintage bombs that they buy from fishermen and treasure hunters. Soldiers of the 48th Infantry Battalion seized an NPA “training manual for making land mines” among the documents recovered from an NPA camp in Sitio Alasanay, Bgy. Dimanayat, San Luis, Aurora on 27-28 September 2005.

The NPA intensified its offensives against the government in 2005, including increased use of command-detonated improvised antivehicle explosive devices, resulting in a considerable increase in the number of casualties recorded. 

Based on this report it highly disingenuous for the AFP to say the use of landmines shows the NPA is weakening when this has been their modus operandi for decades. They have also certainly not lost their ability to face security forces head on as the ambush in Davao two weeks ago proves.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1142197

Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang said Tuesday the ambush perpetrated by the communist New People’s Army (NPA) in Mati City on Sunday was a desperate move aimed at recovering its influence over its lost mass base and supporters.

In a statement, Dayanghirang said the attack was the NPA’s desperate attempt to show strength despite the capture of comrades and the loss of members and mass supporters who have already surrendered to the government.

On Sunday, a soldier was wounded in a 10-minute firefight between government troops and rebels in Barangay Badas, Mati City, Davao Oriental.

Based on the report of the 10th Infantry Division (10ID), members of the Alpha Company of the 66th Infantry Battalion (66IB) were on board a military truck bound for Banaybanay town from Barangay Taguibo when they were ambushed by about 10 fighters of the NPA Guerrilla Front 18 near Punta Tagawisan.

“The Philippine Army reported that the NPA numbers are dwindling and only a few remain active. Our citizens don’t need to worry because our soldiers are spread all over the areas where they might hide or escape,” he said.

What does this governor mean by saying the army reported that "NPA numbers are dwindling and only a few remain active?" Perhaps in Davao that is the case but the NTF-ELCAC says there are still 4,000 left and that recruitment is on-going. Why is there so much contradictory information about the strength of the NPA? Perhaps the AFP has no idea what the real numbers are and are just guessing. And why lie about the NPA's strength or lack thereof based on the guerrilla tactics of ambushes and IEDs which the NPA has been using from the beginning of their fight? It smacks of propaganda.

In Davao the AFP claims the number of terrorists has decreased since 2018 when the ELCAC program was implemented.

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1076973

Besides winning the war thru combat operations, the 10th Infantry Division thru Assistant Chief of Staff of the Civil Military Operations Lt. Col. Louie Dema-ala bared in an interview over One Davao Virtual Virtual Presser that much of the efforts now of the military group is focused on community support programs.

“ Aside from the red area or where the CTGs are usually situated, we also focus on the white area. There is a symbiotic relationship between the red and the white areas. (The white area gives financial support to the CTGs in the red area, in the white areas, recruitments are made for the armed group),” Dema-ala explained.

He cited some gains of the military in weakening the CTG’s strength in the white area along with the initiative and support of the Regional and Provincial Task Force ELCAC.

 The closing of Salugpungan schools across Davao Region was considered a major win for the uniformed men.

Aside from the Salugpungan schools, the issuance of a freeze order by the Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC) on united Church of Christ in the Philippines - Haran (UCCP- Haran) bank accounts was also a significant gain in the insurgency war.

The 10th Infantry Division reported to have organized 443 People’s Organizations (POs) composed of Underground Mass Organization (UGMOs) member.

Dema-ala explained that there is a need to sustain government’s efforts in engaging UGMO members by providing skills trainings and livelihood opportunities.

The AFP claims to be winning the fight via a combination of combat operations and social work. All of that comprises tasks that the public cannot do. Yet the AFP continues to chide the public as if fighting terrorism is their work too.

AFP Chief of Staff Sobejana says the public must "kill terrorism" to end the insurgency.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/790355/afp-s-sobejana-urges-families-academe-to-kill-terrorism-to-end-communist-conflict/story/

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief-of-Staff General Cirilito Sobejana Jr. appealed to families and the academe to join the effort to end the local communist armed conflict, urging them to "kill terrorism."

In a statement, Sobejana said parents and teachers have a role in ending the conflict, adding that good governance should also be practiced at home and in schools.

“While your soldiers kill terrorists, you in the academe should kill terrorism. If you are effective in countering terrorism, there are no terrorists. The Armed Forces will then serve as support in the development of our country, rather than going to war,” Sobejana said, partly in Filipino.

"We do not fight because we hate those who are in front of us; we fight because we love the people behind us,” Sobejana added.

He said the “formula” for ending this country's security problems was for citizens to do their part in the whole-of-nation approach to end the local communist armed conflict. This also includes non-government institutions and civil society organizations.

What does it mean to "kill terrorism?" How does one "kill terrorism?" Sobejana likely does not know as he does not offer an explanation. Or, if he did, GMA has neglected to include it. Fighting terrorism is not the job of the citizens. It is wholly the job of the AFP. There is a pattern here where the government constantly blames the public for the woes of the country. COVID cases are on the rise because the public won't follow safety protocols. The insurgency continues because the public won't do their part. Funny that no one blames the public for choosing lame duck and brain dead politicians to run the nation.

The preferred way to fight the insurgency these days is building roads and strengthening the infrastructure.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1142716

The Rizal town in Kalinga province has received around PHP20 million to fund its anti-insurgency projects in Balabag East village.

According to a report by Radio Mindanao Network (RMN), Rizal Mayor Karl Bugao Baac was thankful to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF ELCAC) Barangay Development Program (BDP) for allotting funds for Balabag East village that is now cleared of infestation of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Of the PHP20 million, around PHP15 million will be used for the rehabilitation of the Barroga-Baggas farm-to-market road, Bugac said.

Baac added that about PHP3 million will be used to improve the water system and the remaining PHP2 million will be allotted for the rehabilitation of the health center building in Balabag East village.

Balabag is one of the 822 villages initially identified by NTF ELCAC to have been cleared of NPA influence.

Imagine calling roads and clean water "anti-insurgency projects." That is insane. Those are projects that should have been completed long ago as the people pay taxes for that kind of infrastructure. Not to mention the area has already been cleared of NPA influence. So, how exactly will these projects fight the insurgency when it appears there is no insurgency in their village to fight?