Insurgency: It's Insane to Talk Peace

The Army is really going all out to make sure they meet the goal of defeating the CPP-NPA by Duterte leaves office. One official says it will be done before the deadline.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1166033

A top-ranking military official has vowed an intensified drive against insurgency along with his counterparts in the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) in Region 3 (Central Luzon) to finish its mission and objectives "within the time frame".

Maj. Gen. Andrew D. Costelo, commander of the Philippine Army's 7th Infantry Division (7ID), cited the need to intensify efforts in the conduct of collaborative activities with national government agencies and engaging more with the communities to defeat local communist armed conflict.

“We are already in the stage of this campaign that we have to be more aggressive in our efforts because six months from now, President Rodrigo Duterte will step down from presidency and also signals the end of our timeline to defeat and eradicate the local communist armed conflict in our area of responsibility,” he said in a social media post on Friday.

The new AFP Chief has reiterated this same promise. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1166358

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief, Gen. Andres Centino, has directed all military commanders to ensure that the local communist insurgency threat is eliminated before President Rodrigo R. Duterte's term ends in June.

Centino issued the directive during Tuesday's command conference at the AFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City attended by all chiefs of major services and unified commands.

“As your Chief of Staff, I am taking the lead in this final push of our campaign. I enjoin everyone to maintain our momentum, sustain our gains, and remain victorious. Let us finish the local armed conflict within the President’s term. As the Armed Forces of the Filipino people, we shall not fail them in their desire of having a peaceful and secure society,” he said in a statement Tuesday night.

Centino also directed all AFP commanders to intensify their operations with a sense of urgency and focus on defeating the remaining local threat groups through intelligence-driven combat operations.

He particularly ordered the redeployment of AFP forces to where the communist group is based, launch decisive engagements aimed at destroying the enemies’ will to fight, cut off their source of funds and logistics support, and hit the enemy leadership, which is considered their center of gravity, hard.

Citing the AFP's accomplishments for 2021, he said the military had neutralized 43 top New People's Army (NPA) leaders and Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Central Committee members.

These are Jorge Madlos, Menandro Villanueva, Pedro Codaste, Eddie Genelsa, and Maria Loida Tuso Magpatoc – all members of the CPP Politburo Committee.

Likewise, 10 CPP-NPA guerilla fronts have been dismantled while more than 3,000 party and underground organization members and supporters have withdrawn their membership from the CPP and the National Democratic Front.

Not only did Centino "direct all AFP commanders to intensify their operations with a sense of urgency" but he also cited some of their recent achievements against the NPA. In Bukidnon the NPA is leaving for greener pastures as more communities have labelled them as persona non grata.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1166125

The Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) said the remaining combatants of the New People's Army (NPA) in Bukidnon province have moved to the borders of Lanao del Sur.

In a statement Saturday, Lt. Gen. Greg T. Almerol, Eastmincom commander, said they noticed the movement after members of the rebel group figured in an encounter with Army soldiers in the towns of Amai Manabilang, Lumba-Bayabao, and Maguing, all in Lanao del Sur.

The skirmish came after concerned citizens reported the presence of some 30 armed men to the troops on January 20, under the 403rd Brigade's 1st Special Forces Battalion (1SFBn), who have been pursuing the remnants of North Central Mindanao Regional Committee’s (NCMRC) Sub-Regional Committee 4 (SRC4) and SRC5 in the area.

"These clashes send a strong manifestation that the people are already fed up with the CTG's (communist terrorist group) continued atrocities in their communities, therefore making them more participative in the military's campaign to end the communist insurgency by reporting suspicious armed groups and activities," he said.

Almirola said the NPA rebels in Bukidnon have been running away from the government forces toward unfamiliar terrain such as in Lanao del Sur as communities in their former mass bases have already declared them persona-non-grata.

"Although their remnants are still on the run, lack of familiarity in the new terrain and support from communities made them easier to be pursued and engaged by our troops," he said.

In fact the AFP says the NPA in Bukidnon is losing its footing.

https://mb.com.ph/2022/01/25/npas-losing-foothold-in-bukidnon-another-rebel-leader-killed-in-clash/

As top the leadership of the communist rebels in Mindanao fell one by one, the military claimed that communist rebels are apparently losing foothold in Bukidnon as the rebels are believed to be seeking refuge in the neighboring Lanao del Sur province.

Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Eastern Mindanao Command chief Lt.Gen. Greg Almerol described the rebel group like “running like a headless monster” with the recent death of yet another alleged ranking rebel leader.

“We are seeing a snowball of surrender in the coming days with the successful neutralization of another CTG head. This is possible as the operational balance of the CTG continues to crumble while the morale of their followers depletes after a series of engagements with our troops,” Almerol added. 

Meanwhile in Luzon the AFP says the NPA is crumbling.

https://www.kalinawnews.com/communist-insurgency-crumbling-in-northern-luzon-following-the-surrender-of-3-ctg-members/

“Communist Insurgency is crumbling in Northern Luzon,” said Maj. Gen. Andrew Costelo, Acting Commander of the Northern Luzon Command, following the surrender of three (3) Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) members with their firearms to the troops of the 86th Infantry Battalion of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Tala at Sitio Jet, Barangay Rizal, San Guillermo, Isabela on January 22, 2022.

Maj. Gen. Costelo disclosed that “In a report submitted by the Joint Task Group (JTG) Liberator Commander, Brig. Gen. Danilo Benavides, the surrendered personalities were members of the Regional Sentro de Gravidad (RSDG) and are residents of Barangay Villagracia, Maddela, Quirino. Their names are being withheld for the meantime pending results of their initial debriefing.”

“With their willingness to yield to the government and chose the path for peace, they also brought alongside with them two (2) m16 rifles with two (2) short magazines, three (3) long magazine and 26 live 5.56 ammunition which manifests their complete abandonment of the armed movement of the communist terrorists,” Maj. Gen. Costelo said.

“It will only be a matter of time before Communist Insurgency will be totally decimated in this part of the country, ” said Maj. Gen. Mina.

“If the trend of those CTG members going back to the folds of the law complemented by our successes in the civil-military cooperation continue, there is no doubt that we attain to end the local communist armed conflict by the end of President Duterte’s term,” Maj. Gen Costelo added.

In the Visayas the AFP says the NPA is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1166643

The Visayas Command (Viscom) on Saturday said communist rebels in the regions are fast becoming irrelevant due to dwindling support from the residents, sustained community engagement of soldiers, and the Barangay Development Program (BDP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

In a statement, Lt. Gen. Robert Dauz, Viscom commander, said the Community Support Program (CSP) has amplified the direct engagement of the government forces to the communities which led the people to detach from the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA).

CSP, a flagship program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), is being credited for the many successful clearing of the presence of NPA in the communities.

“With our sustained community engagements, the people in the region started to break free from the clutches of the communist terrorists while embracing an active role in the government’s peace and development initiatives,” Dauz said.

The evidence is pretty clear. The NPA is on the run and is close to being defeated. The AFP claims that the job will be done by the end of Duterte's term which is June 2022. So, why are the Presidential candidates discussing reviving peace talks?

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1544541/nica-chief-its-insane-to-talk-peace-again-with-reds

The head of the government’s intelligence agency criticized as “insanity” the recent remarks by four presidential candidates expressing their intention to pursue peace negotiations with communist rebels.

National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (Nica) Director General Alex Paul Monteagudo said reviving the talks with the rebels would only fail as it did in the past.

With their stance to resume the talks, he said, Vice President Leni Robredo, Senators Panfilo Lacson and Manny Pacquiao and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso were just trying to “gain votes… [s]o that they would seem like statesmen.”

Monteagudo was reacting to remarks made by these candidates in broadcast journalist Jessica Soho’s “Presidential Interviews” which aired on GMA 7 on Saturday.

“Mr. Albert Einstein, the genius, said, ‘Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is insanity,’” Monteagudo said at Monday’s online press briefing by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac).

He added: “How many times have we had peace talks with the rebels? All administrations since 1986 held peace talks with the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)-NPA (New People’s Army)-National Democratic Front of the Philippines, speaking with the same persons.”

What's really insane is that NICA Chief Monteagudo did not mention any of the accomplishments of the AFP. He did not say that the defeat of the NPA is imminent therefore peace talks are impertinent. Does he not believe that sentiment is true? It seems the Palace does not believe the NPA will be defeated by the end of Duterte's term either. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1166338

Malacañang hopes the next administration will sustain the gains of the government against the communist insurgency, through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Executive Order 70 signed in December 2018 created the NTF-ELCAC that institutionalizes a whole-of-nation approach in obtaining exclusive and sustainable peace, giving the government an effective solution against communist terrorists.

"(We hope the next President, whoever that is, will continue the successful accomplishments of the) NTF-ELCAC," acting presidential spokesperson, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, said in a Palace briefing on Tuesday.

Again, there is no mention of the AFP's successes against the CPP-NPA. There is no hope that the insurgency will be over by June. It seems they think the NPA will still be operating after Duterte is gone. But who knows? Maybe the AFP will finally succeed in ending the insurgency within the next four months.