Insurgency: Surrender Desk

If you or anyone you know is a member of the NPA, the time to surrender and avail of the lavish benefits program offered by the government and paid for by the taxpayers is now.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1173604

As the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) intensifies its operations against the communist terrorist groups to secure the May elections, AFP Chief, Gen. Andres Centino, has urged all remaining rebels to surrender and avail of the government's Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) so that they can live peaceful lives with their families and loved ones.

The AFP chief made this appeal following the death of two New People's Army (NPA) terrorists during an encounter with the 36th Infantry Battalion in Lanuza, Surigao Del Sur last April 29.

"We are saddened by (the lives) wasted because of the senseless armed revolution of the communist NPA terrorists,” he said in a statement late Tuesday.

Centino also renewed his call on other members of the terrorist group to surrender now while they still have a chance. He added the government’s E-CLIP is designed to provide support to NPA rebels who wish to abandon the communist movement and return to their families.

A 36th Infantry Battalion soldier was wounded in the five-minute clash while the bodies of the two slain NPAs were recovered along with their weapons, a 5.56mm assault M-16 rifle and a .45- caliber pistol.

Almost PHP500 million worth of cash assistance has been given to the former rebels (FRs) under E-CLIP, an official of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) earlier said.

Navy Captain Ferdinand Buscato, executive director of Task Force Balik-Loob and representative of E-CLIP and Amnesty Clusters of NTF-ELCAC, said a total of 20,579 FRs have surrendered to the government from July 2016 to November 2021.

Buscato said since the creation of NTF-ELCAC through Executive Order No. 80 in 2018, a total of 3,751 FRs have been given livelihood assistance worth PHP50,000 each (PHP187.2 million) while 6,171 received immediate assistance amounting to PHP15,000 each (PHP92.46 million).

The PNP in Bacolod has even been nice enough to set up a surrender desk exclusively devoted to CPP-NPA rebels who wish to renounce their way of life.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1173673

The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) has set up a surrender desk for members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) who want to return to the fold of the law.

The surrender desk is part of the Project TAPE or Table for Peace, a Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) initiative that promotes peace, development, and reconciliation in this city.

Col. Thomas Joseph Martir, city police director, said on Wednesday the BCPO has already made history in helping facilitate the surrender of a young couple, who were former CPP-NPA combatants from Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental, during a ceremony held on Tuesday.

“I encourage other communist-terrorist group members to embrace the Table for Peace program and give it a chance to help you pursue a better and peaceful living,” he said.

The term “tape” also means to secure, cordon, and isolate Bacolod from the deception, recruitment, and atrocities of the communist-terrorist groups.

According to the BCPO, the Project TAPE will be conducted daily through massive and intensified information operation, public information, awareness, and community engagement activities.

“This is aimed to empower Bacolodnons to help enlighten (CPP-NPA) members of their futile cause and that the government is serious in its peace and development efforts to encourage and convince them to surrender through the BCPO Surrender Desk,” it added.

Army Chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. even claims the NTF-ELCAC program is the best tool to fight the insurgency. More than that it is "the best thing that ever happened in the fight against the NPA."

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1173610

Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the institutionalization of the "whole-of-nation" approach is the “best thing that ever happened” in the fight against the New People’s Army (NPA) during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

During a visit to the Army’s 8th Infantry Division here Tuesday afternoon, Brawner commended soldiers for working with government agencies and communities to solve the decades-old insurgency.

“The best thing that ever happened to our counterinsurgency is the implementation of the Executive Order (EO) No. 70, which gave birth to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). All government agencies and the private have been working together to help end insurgency,” Brawner told reporters.

The directive also institutionalizes a “whole-of-nation approach” to attaining an inclusive and sustainable peace.

The official made the remarks after inspecting hundreds of firearms and anti-personnel mines seized by the Philippine Army units in Eastern Visayas between 2021 to early 2022 through information provided by former rebels formed into a group of peace advocates.

Who would have thought back in the 1980's that bribing NPA fighters with money, housing, and jobs to surrender would be the best tool to fight them? How come nobody saw this sooner? All that blood senselessly spilled by the PNP and AFP and the whole time the solution was not roaming through the jungles picking NPA fighters off one by one. No. The answer was to bribe them with gifts at the expense of the taxpayers many of whom languish in poverty and filth at the mercy of a corrupt government who doesn't care about them but which they are forced to support.

It certainly can't be easy being a guerrilla fighter, especially if you are a woman. Aside from the problems of how to obtain those certain supplies needed every month there are actual dangers at hand from your own comrades.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1173503

Some three former rebels (FRs) of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) are calling on those who are still in the movement to surrender to avoid being victimized by sexual abuse and harassment, similar to what they experienced.

Ka Bona, Ka Arce, and Ka Sky gave their testimonies on Sunday during a Duterte Legacy Caravan Thru Convergence of All Government Agencies in Manjuyod, Negros Oriental.

The activity was part of a series of caravans aimed at informing the public about the administration’s programs and policies, Lt. Col. Ruben Verbo said on Monday.

One of the FRs said while in the underground movement, she experienced sexual harassment while other women were also allegedly subjected to abuse by the male rebels.

What were these ladies thinking? Out in the jungle in the middle of nowhere with males who are in power hungry and thirsty? What did they think was going to happen? There have been many accusations of rape and even some women giving birth. But the revolution has also served as a meet cute for more than a few NPA fighters.

https://mb.com.ph/2022/05/03/npa-couple-surrender-to-bacolod-cops/

A couple who claimed to have strong links with the New People’s Army (NPA) surrendered to the police here on Tuesday.

The two rebel returnees who are live-in partners surrendered through the help of Task Force Kasanag.

They were then endorsed to Police Station 7 led by Capt. Elmer Bonilla, and were brought to Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) during the launching of Table for Peace (TAPE).

BCPO’s Project TAPE is an initiative of the city police force to provide avenue through the establishment of Surrender’s Desk or table at different police stations and units here to enjoin, encourage, and facilitate the Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs) that are desiring to return to the folds of the government.

The male returnee from Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, was an alleged leader of Platoon 2, Sentro De Gabridad (SDG), South Front, Komiteng Rehiyon-Negros Cebu Bohol Siquijor (KR-NCBS) of Armando Sumayang Command.

The female returnee from Hinoba-an town was a medic of Platoon 1 Squad 2, of the same rebel group. She was recruited in 2018 at the age of 17 and was first assigned as vice finance.

The couple’s decision to leave the revolutionary movement was due to the alleged maltreatment of their members.

These appear to be the first people to approach the surrender desk in Bacolod City. You know what they say. The couple that fights the revolution and then surrenders together stays together. The nameless lady claims when she first joined the insurgency she was "assigned as vice finance." Luckily she did not end up like the NPA finance officer who was gunned down this week.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1173748

The rebel who was killed in Wednesday's encounter in Agusan del Norte was among the top leaders of the dismantled Guerrilla Front 4A (GF-4A) of the New People's Army's (NPA) North Central Mindanao Regional Committee (NCMRC).

In a statement Thursday, the Army's 402nd Infantry Brigade (402Bde) said Peter Pinakilid was the finance and political officer of the GF-4A and a member of the Sub-Regional Committee 3 of the NCMRC.

Pinakilid was killed in Barangay Macalang, Buenavista town when his group of around 20 clashed with soldiers of the Army's 12th Scout Ranger Company under the 4th Scout Ranger Battalion.

“Peter Pinakilid is the biological father of the most notorious NPA rebel, Jelan Pinakilid, alias Baking, who died in an encounter with the troops of the 58th Infantry Battalion last 18 February 2022 in Misamis Oriental,” 402Bde said.

The identity of Pinakilid was confirmed by a former rebel, it added.

“The NPA rebels were in the area to conduct extortion activities and the imposition of permit-to-campaign and permit-to-win on candidates for the upcoming local and national elections,” 402Bde said.

Brig. Gen. Adonis Ariel Orio, 402Bde commander, expressed condolences to the family of the slain NPA rebel.

“We are saddened that another life had to be wasted as ensued from a long senseless armed struggle that these NPA terrorists are still fighting for,” Orio said.

Peter and Jelan Pinakilid's deaths are "a clear manifestation" of the NPA's move to generate funds and sustain the rebellion, the Army official said.

Does anyone really think that the death of this man saddens Brig. Gen. Adonis Ariel Orio? The man was an enemy of the state, father to a notorious rebel who was killed in February 2022, and who was moving "to generate funds and sustain the rebellion." His death means it will be harder for the NPA to collect funds. Good riddance. Had he surrendered he would have been lavished with gifts at the expense of the taxpayer. 

As much as the AFP has been focused on the NPA it's important to remember the Philippines is still at war with ISIS.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1173619

Government forces arrested an alleged recruiter and firearms supplier of a locally-based Islamic State for Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group in Zamboanga Sibugay province, a top police official said Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. Franco Simborio, Police Regional Office - Zamboanga Peninsula (PRO-9) director, said the alleged terrorist recruiter, Abdul Salikala, was arrested by a police and military team around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in Barangay Libertad, Tungawan.

Salikala, 32, of Tungawan town in Zamboanga Sibugay, is also a member of the Hassan criminal gang and has a standing warrant of arrest for murder issued in 2011, Simborio said.

He said the suspect was monitored recruiting persons in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte, to be part of the locally-based ISIS.

Salikala was also monitored to have transported high-powered firearms from Alicia, Zamboanga Sibugay to Barangays Latabon and Malambuhangin in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte, he added

Abu Sayyaf, the Maute Group, and the BIFF are still waging a war against the government. They may have been quiet lately but they are still there, perhaps growing in strength, but always ready to strike.