Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Insurgency: Work in Progress

NTF-ELCAC spokesman Lorraine Badoy claims her offices programs are working. The proof is in the number of NPA rebels who have surrendered.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171405

Close to 24,000 communist rebels who surrendered to the government are overwhelming proof of the success of the "whole-of-nation approach" being implemented under President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 70 that created the National Task Force to End Local Communists Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), paving the way for genuine and lasting peace.

This was the statement released by the NTF-ELCAC through Spokesperson for Sectoral Concerns and Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy during its weekly virtual press conference, in response to the baseless remarks made by jailed and reelectionist Senator Leila de Lima about the alleged failure of the task force.

In support of Badoy's pronouncement, Navy Capt. Ferdinand Buscato, Executive Director of Task Force Balik Loob, reported that among the 23,641 former members of various communist terrorist groups (CTGs) who surrendered to government authorities, 2,052 are considered “violent extremists.”

Most of the former communist rebels who surrendered, Buscato said, are now enjoying the fruits of their return to the fold of the law, as they have been reintegrated into society with NTF-ELCAC's assistance including livelihood for their families.

Now, if you have been following this blog you would know that number is totally bogus. Last year we were told that between July 2016 and May 2021 18,000 communists rebels had surrendered. Only 3,684 were regular NPA members. The rest were supporters of various kinds.

Now we are to believe that since May 2021 nearly 6,000 communist rebels have surrendered. That is an incredible number. How many were actual NPA fighters? And who are the 2,052 "violent extremists?" Are they NPA fighters? Will the be able to avail of the government's generous benefits program which includes cash, a house, and job training? It is important to know exactly who is surrendering and they never tell the public. Instead they lump everyone together. Remember in 2016 the public was told there were roughly 5,000 NPA fighters. Could it be that they are recruiting and losing members at record speed?

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170916

The League of Parents of the Philippines (LPP) has raised alarm on the call for “intensified recruitment” particularly among the youth by the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), during its 53rd founding anniversary on Tuesday.

LPP chairperson Remy Rosadio said there’s nothing to celebrate in “another attempt” to destruct Filipino lives, particularly the youth.

“It must not be a joyous celebration for Filipino people. This day only marks the atrocities of the communist terrorist groups for already 53 years. This day should only remind us that many of our children's lives had been sacrificed by the communists’ worthless ideologies,” Rosario said during an indignation rally in Mendiola, Manila City on Tuesday.

Members of the anti-communist groups LPP, Liga Independencia Pilipinas, and Yakap ng mga Magulang condemned the 53 years of atrocities perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and its front organizations’ illegal recruitment of youth to join the armed struggle.

“Many parents still crying for the loss of their children who were deceptively recruited by the legal front of CPP-NPA-NDF headed by Joma Sison,” Rosadio said.

On its official website, the CPP-NPA said it will creatively enhance its guerilla tactics “in order to wage extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare on an ever-widening and deepening mass base.”

As always, the key is to arouse the broad masses of the Filipino people in order for them to rise up in great numbers against the fascist tyranny. In the coming year or two, we must carry out some specific tasks to raise the fighting capacity of the NPA and the masses in order to steadily advance of the revolution,” the CPP's 20-page anniversary statement read.

The CPP said the NPA should muster its strength “militarily and politically.”

“The masses are the source of strength of the NPA. We must aim to strengthen the ties that bind the NPA and the masses. We must aim to mobilize the masses in their numbers,” it said. “There must be a clear plan to recruit thousands upon thousands of Red fighters from among the peasant masses, especially the youth.”

Who knows if the "broad masses of the Filipino people" will be aroused from their slumber to fight the...uh...government? It seems unlikely however there is one interesting thing from this official statement:

The Party and the NPA have successfully frustrated Duterte and his military generals in their repeated declarations of crushing the people’s armed resistance. This is not without losses, of course, due to some internal weaknesses and shortcomings, particularly in terms of adjusting to the changed military situation borne out of the enemy’s new arsenal of weapons and strategies which requires the NPA to adapt new guerrilla methods and tactics of fighting. The preservation and successes of the NPA in most guerrilla fronts, however, continue to prove the political superiority of the people’s war against the enemy’s war against the people.

https://cpp.ph/statements/raise-the-fighting-capability-of-the-npa-and-the-masses-persevere-and-advance-along-the-path-of-protracted-peoples-war/

The truth is that despite Duterte's pledge to end the insurgency before his term ends and all the top military brass taking up that charge the insurgency is not ending anytime soon. Duterte says it's a work in progress.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171161

Despite acknowledging the achievements in the government’s anti-insurgency efforts, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Thursday said the journey towards dismantling communist-terrorist groups in the country remains a "work in progress.”

Speaking during the joint meeting between the National Task Force and Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-RTF-ELCAC) in Region 7 (Central Visayas) in Lapu-Lapu City, he commended the NTF- and RTF-ELCAC for collectively realizing the government’s “holistic and whole-of-the-nation approach” in resolving communist insurgency.

“Your serious efforts to deliver the basic services in conflict-affected areas truly helped in bringing the government closer to the Filipino people,” he said.

He, however, said the government initiative should not stop here.

“The completion of our commitments to achieving peace for the country remains critical in the remaining three months of this administration,” he added.

Duterte enjoined local chief executives in Central Visayas to synergize their local efforts with the NTF RTF-ELCAC in the fight against lawlessness and insurgency and to support the administration's key programs in achieving sustainable security.

“To the government's national and local partners in this endeavor, we assure you of the administration's unrelenting support in your respective initiatives in securing lasting peace,” he said.

Meanwhile, he acknowledged the consequences of continued armed encounters between the military and the communist rebels.

“The idea really is to dismantle. Of course, killing is part of the territory when fighting the communists. Huwag na kayo magtaka na may mamatay diyan (Don’t be surprised if somebody dies there),” he said.

Duterte said his wish for the next administration to continue providing support to the NTF-ELCAC.

“I hope even beyond my term as president our efforts to end local government armed conflict in our regions will never be in vain. The Filipino people deserve a peaceful and prosperous nation and that is what the government should provide. Let us all work hard together for this,” he added.

It seems that Duterte is not confident the insurgency will be crushed within the next 3 months. And he's right. It won't be. Remember, the insurgency is more than the NPA. According to the government it is the KABAG partylist groups too. It's hilarious because KABAG is the initials of the partylist groups but it also means something else.

A self-confessed socialist, President Duterte reiterated his beef against the “Makabayan bloc” and quoted Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) who first identified and christened the “Makabayan bloc” lawmakers with an acronym “KABAG.” The acronym “KABAG” stood for the first letters of the names of the five party list groups, namely: Kabataan; Anak-Pawis; Bayan Muna; Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT); and, Gabriela.

Obviously, this was to denigrate the name of the “Makabayan bloc” which in the English language means patriotic, or love for country.

Actually, “kabag” is a Tagalog word denoting someone has stomachache, or heartburn due to indigestion, or acidic stomach.

When babies suffer “kabag,” my late mother advised us just to make them burp or belch, or make them fart to get the unwanted air out their stomach.

https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2022/04/01/2171374/hot-air-kabag

Kabag doesn't mean merely stomachache. It means flatulence. Gas. Farts. So, the patriotic bloc is now the fart bloc. How mature. 

The fact is the government admits it is having a hard time fighting the communists. They claim the second highest official in the land, Vice President Leni Robredo, is in cahoots with the CPP-NPA. The NICA claims there are up to 400,000 communists who have infiltrated various ranks in the government. The partylists which have members in the House have all been linked to the CPP-NPA. No one can say a single word against the Duterte administration or make a single humanitarian gesture without being labelled a communist. Lorraine Badoy is George McCarthy on steroids except McCarthy was 100% correct as history has shown him to be. 

What more could I possibly post here? I collect all the headlines. NPA surrenderers, NPA fronts have been demolished, ASG members surrender, NPA on the way out. It's all the same thing every week. I want to end with a little bit of advice for Badoy. Shut up! If you have the goods and you know who is who then go after them. Don't warn them. Don't alert them. Go after them and get them. If the NTF-ELCAC wants to end the insurgency and they know exactly who is a part of that insurgency then they need to go get them. Use warrants that are bulletproof and not faulty and will be tossed out by the court. Don't use deadly force because you want the people on your side. But most of all...SHUT UP and stop accusing people left and right! Be quiet and do what needs to be done behind the scenes and end the insurgency.

But they are not going to do that. For one it's quite a hard task seeing as the Makabayn Bloc has affiliates overseas who are constantly raising money which is allegedly being funneled to the CPP. It's a difficult task. And after 53 years?  Perhaps the insurgency is now endemic. Perhaps the NTF-ELCAC doesn't want the insurgency to end. After all if the insurgency ended Lorraine Badoy would be out of a job.

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