Insurgency: Red-Tagging is a Sacred Duty

This week the Army's Eastern Mindanao Command says the oldest NPA guerrilla front in Mindanao has finally been dismantled. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176506

The military's Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) announced Monday the collapse of the New People’s Army (NPA) Guerrilla Front 2 (GF2), the oldest communist rebel unit operating in Mindanao.

Lt. Gen. Greg Almerol, the Eastmincom commander, said the collapse stems from the surrender of the unit's top leaders to the Army's 10th Infantry Division's (10ID) in the hinterlands of Maragusan, Davao de Oro, on June 10.

In a statement Monday, Eastmincom said GF 2 was one of the oldest guerilla fronts in the country along with GF3, which was earlier declared “dismantled” in April. Both guerilla fronts operated in the Davao Region.

Almerol identified two of the GF2 surrenderers only as “Dandan,” front secretary under the NPA's Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC), and her party husband known as Jeg or JR, the unit's commanding officer.

The other surrenderers were described as a squad leader and a squad supply officer of a subunit under the SMRC.

Almerol said the surrenders decided to return to the law as “there was no more place for them to move due to the 10ID’s intense counter-insurgency campaign.”

The rebels also claimed they were abandoned by their top-ranking leader Eric Jun Casilao, SMRC's secretary.

Last month, the Army reported that Casilao abandoned his comrades and fled with the party's money worth PHP6 million.

“It leaves us confronting one remaining NPA unit under the SMRC. Rest assured that we will hunt its leaders to end their atrocities, once and for all,” Almerol said.

This development has lead the AFP to declare Davao Norte insurgency free.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176593

The Army's 10th Infantry Division (10ID) has declared the province of Davao Del Norte as “insurgency-free.”

In a statement on Monday evening, 10ID said the declaration came after the “successful dismantling” of all communist New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla fronts (GFs) in Davao del Norte through the government's multipronged counter-insurgency campaign.

At least five NPA guerrilla units operated in the province in 2016—all under the NPA's Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC), 10ID said,

The number went down to two in 2020, culminating with the collapse of SMRC's GF3—described as one of the oldest guerrilla fronts in the country—early this year, 10ID said.

Major Gen. Nolasco Mempin, 10ID commander, said the campaign against communist insurgency in Davao del Norte was “not an easy journey.”

Mempin said the dismantling of the NPA units “significantly diminish” the rebels' to “smallest size, including its strength, firearms, and their ability to recruit, train, organize, or recover their mass bases or areas.”

How is Davao Norte insurgency free when there is still one front left? It's because the definition of insurgency free which is as follows:

“Insurgency-free”, according to Luga, means that they have received no more reports of armed men in the province. 

“Insignificant level. Wala na rito ang mga armed groups,” Luga said during the recent meeting of the Regional Peace and Order Council held at the Capitol Social Hall.

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

However it appears at least 4 NPA fronts remain in Mindanao.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176917

The formation of Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) has reduced New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla fronts in Northern Mindanao from 12 to three, a top military official here said.

Maj. Gen. Wilbur Mamawag, the Army’s 4th Infantry Division commander, attributed the success of the government's anti-insurgency body to President Rodrigo Duterte's Executive Order (EO) 70, which institutionalize the “whole of nation approach” to end the decades-old Maoist insurgency in the countryside.

“The primary aim (of ELCAC) is to stop the violence; the real intention is to settle the armed conflict through peaceful means,” he said during a press forum Thursday.

That's three fronts in Northern Mindanao and one in Southern Mindanao for a grand total of four fronts in Mindanao as a whole.

While the NPA might be on the decline in Davao elsewhere they are allegedly stirring up trouble elsewhere.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176689

The Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) were pinpointed as the masterminds behind the chaos that ensued at the disputed land in Hacienda Tinang in Concepcion, Tarlac on June 9.

This was revealed on Tuesday by former members of the Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs) during a special virtual press briefing of the National Task Force to End Local Communists Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Christopher Garcia, formerly known as "Ka Warly", who is now a board member of Sambayanang Gitnang Luzon, said the CTGs have initiated the "Bungkalan" mobilization campaign in Hacienda Tinang wherein communist rebels will move into disputed agricultural lands in the country, including Hacienda Luisita.

"(It is a way to broaden mass-based and return to the place they used to control before. We know that because we experienced it)," Garcia said, referring to the CTG's efforts to take back their former lair from government forces.

He added that the Tinang incident is just a starting point of the CTG’s focused efforts to sow chaos for the incoming administration.

"Ayaw nilang maupo si BBM (They don’t want President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong Marcos Jr. to lead)," said Ka Pong Sibayan, another former CTG member.

They know this for sure because it is something they experienced? It appears they have no direct knowledge of what happened in Tinang. While these people are claiming conspiracy by the CPP the arrested farmers gave a completely different story.

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1931964/pampanga/local-news/chr-investigates-arrest-of-90-farmers-in-tinang

Local police claimed that the apprehended farmers used a rotovator and destroyed the sugarcane plantation owned by other farmers belonging to Agriculture Cooperative, according to the CHR.

The commission added that when responding police officers from Police Regional Office III tried to pacify them, the police said the farmers allegedly became unruly and tried to obstruct the law enforcers from performing their official duties.

However, seven of the farmers arrested asserted that they are legitimate agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) of the land, with a Certificate of Land Ownership Award title issued in 1995 for the 200-hectare disputed land and are just waiting for their official installation as the decision was never enforced, the CHR stated.

"With the disputed nature of the said land, we urge the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to look into the matter to finally ascertain how to move forward given the pending land conflict," CHR executive director Jacqueline de Guia said.

It would seem there are real issues at stake here that transcend the CPP-NPA. The DAR and DENR both claim they are investing the claims made by all parties to owning the land. 

These same two people also say the NPA is planing to "muddy" the inauguration of Bongbong Marcos.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176830

Former members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) said the communist terrorist group (CTG) is planning to muddle the oath-taking ceremony of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on June 30.

During the Tagged media briefing by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) on Monday, former rebels Orlando “Ka Warly” Baluyot, now chairman of Tinang Samahang Nayon Multi-Purpose Cooperative, and Ka Pong Sibayan, a farmer from Hacienda Tinang in Concepcion, Tarlac said the CTGs have started organizing farmers in their province.

They said aside from Hacienda Tinang, officials and members of CPP-NPA-NDF legal front organizations have also been meeting with farmers from nearby Hacienda Murcia and Barangay Central inside Hacienda Luisita.

“(That is what we see that they will do on June 30, before President Bongbong Marcos assumes the post),” Baluyot said.

He said farmers from these areas are now organized by the front groups.

“(There are meetings in Hacienda Murcia, also in Tarlac City, which is very near Hacienda Tinang),” he added.

Baluyot said these farmers are also having problems with their land and have been allegedly receiving eviction threats.

He added some members of left-leaning organizations are often seen coming to those areas as they want the people to fight the government.

“(They really do not want Bongbong Marcos to sit. We can attest that they are having activities with the other group in Barangay Murcia and Barangay Central. In Barangay Central, some people tell us that there are members of Anakpawis there. In Barangay Murcia, it is Atty. Jobert Pahilga, their lawyer there, because from I know, Anakpawis plans to seize the lands bought by the malls there),” Sibayan said.

He said aside from the areas in Tarlac that they have named, different front organizations are also busy mobilizing groups from various towns even using youth members in their propaganda.

Sibayan said these youth groups, who are “not aware they are only being used”, are actually victims.

With this, he called on the parents to strictly monitor their children.

“(I pity these young people thus their parents should watch over them because these groups are putting them in danger. These youth should pity their parents. If they want to help, they should cooperate with the government to stop all these violence. But from what they are doing, it’s the other way around, they want to govern),” Sibayan said.

Funny that there is no specific information given by these two former NPA fighters. How would they even know about these plans when they are no longer members of the NPA? It beggars belief. Also note that they claim youth groups will be used by the CPP unawares. Which groups would that be? It appears that far from being inutile the insurgency is still very much a threat.

Officials for the incoming Marcos administration are saying that red-tagging must be stopped. That has not set well with red-tagging queen Lorraine Badoy who claims red-tagging is "a sacred duty."

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176822

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) "creates clarity with the truth" even as legal communist fronts continue to create "confusion with their lies", NTF ELCAC spokesperson Lorraine Marie Badoy said.

Badoy, reiterating that the term "red-tagging" does not exist, said on Friday members and allies of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) are using it as a "tool to silence" anti-insurgency advocates to speak up about their deceitful operations.

"Where they are loud and bold about their toxic lies, we are louder and bolder about the truth," she said. "It is precisely because of this deceit and the ignorance of our countrymen that they have committed the most heinous of crimes against our people and our beloved Philippines."

Badoy is reacting to a statement by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra who recently urged certain individuals associated with the NTF-ELCAC to refrain from “red-tagging" without "solid proof of evidence."

"The NTF ELCAC agrees with Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra when he says that we should not identify people as members of the CPP NPA NDF if we do not have solid proof that they are," Badoy said.

"This, in fact has been our guiding light at the NTF ELCAC: to gird our countrymen with accurate and clear information about the numerous fronts of this terrorist organization and the various modus operandi they employ to hurt and destroy our country for the past 53 years," she added.

The NTF-ELCAC, she said, is doing its best to stop the massive recruitment of youth and vulnerable groups to the communist armed movement.

“We, however, do not agree with Secretary Guevarra when he says that the NTF ELCAC endangers our people when we do our sacred duty of identifying members of the CPP-NPA-NDF. What has grievously endangered our people is all those decades government reneged on its sacred duty, looked the other way and refused to identify members of the CPP NPA NDF–even if they already knew who these terrorists were,” Badoy said, calling it "unfortunate" that Guevarra seemed "ignorant" of the Supreme Court ruling in the Zarate vs. Aquino case that there is no danger to life, liberty and security when one is identified as a member of the CPP-NPA-NDF.

Since Lorraine does not agree with her superiors hopefully her days are numbered. The NTF-ELCAC does not need someone as reckless as her at its helm.