Insurgency: NPA Who Died of Nervous Breakdown

Apparently Lorraine Badoy did not get the memo that the Marcos administration wants to steer away from red-tagging. Here she is accusing former Vice President Leni Robredo of recruiting for the NPA!

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/07/08/2193998/badoys-red-tagging-encourages-harassment-volunteers-angat-buhay

The spokesperson of the government's anti-insurgency task force has not offered any proof for her assertion that the former vice president is linked to communist rebels besides Robredo's support of groups belonging to the left side of the political spectrum and her willingness to resume peace talks with rebel groups.

"They really are working overtime in their recruitment, the Angat Buhay of Leni Robredo...the people behind the Angat Buhay is CPP-NPA-NDF," Badoy said in mixed Filipino and English over SMNI's program. 

"In fact, they're on social media, the mothers looking for the children who they can't find anymore, and these are the ones who joined Leni Youth." 

Badoy has denied that her task force practices red-tagging, preferring to call its conflating activists with armed combatants "truth-tagging." But the controversial NTF-ELCAC has often been caught spreading false information on more than one occasion to justify its red-tagging. 

This lady is totally nuts and its a shame she has not been given the boot yet. "Truth-tagging" she calls it but never provides any evidence to back up her claims. It's a shame she is a ranking member of the NTF-ELCAC. The AFP hopes it sticks around but they have nothing to fear as it's likely not going anywhere.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/837356/afp-bats-for-ntf-elcac-retention-cites-lesser-number-of-guerilla-fronts/story/

“We acknowledge that NTF-ELCAC is really a very good tool. It unified the whole government infrastructure to address a multi-faceted insurgency problem,” AFP acting spokesperson Colonel Medel Aguilar said during an online meeting with reporters when asked if the anti-insurgency task force  will be dissolved.

“We hope that this will continue because while we are addressing the symptom, the civil government will be addressing the root causes and the problem itself,” he said.

Aguilar said President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has yet to give new directives on addressing the insurgency in the country.

He added that a security meeting with the new commander-in-chief will be set soon.

Asked if the AFP will make a commitment to end the insurgency within Marcos’ term, Aguilar said it is the duty of the military to suppress armed rebellion and violence in the country.

Now, that is interesting. Not only has Bongo failed to appoint a DOH Secretary while the nation is allegedly in the midst of a pandemic but he has also given no directive addressing the insurgency. But does the AFP really need to be told they have to continue fighting the NPA? Of course not.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1626830/npa-rebel-killed-in-brief-clash-with-troops-in-sultan-kudarat

An alleged member of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) was killed in a five-minute firefight with government troops in Barangay Tibuhol in Palimabang town, Sultan Kudarat, on Sunday.

The Army’s 6th Infantry Division issued a statement about the battle only on Tuesday.

It took place at 4:45 p.m. on Sunday. Members of the 57th Infantry Battalion were conducting what they call a combat clearing operation when they encountered around five NPA rebels.

“They could not withstand the military force, so they withdrew to the unknown location,” the military statement said.

The troops recovered the body of the unidentified rebel along with a high-powered gun.

Another encounter with the NPA which ends with them getting away. They were only 5, how many were the AFP? Was there no way to follow them? 

232 PNP officers are being sent to North Samar to "finish off NPA."

https://mb.com.ph/2022/07/13/232-cops-sent-to-finish-off-npa-in-6-northern-samar-barangays/

The government is strengthening its fight against the New People’s Army (NPA) in six conflict-stricken barangays in Palapag, Northern Samar with the deployment of 232 policemen who are part of the Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP) team.

The 232 policemen replaced the 162 personnel deployed in Palapag for months to participate in the government’s whole-of-nation approach to end the decades-old insurgency.

“We held a send-off ceremony in Northern Samar last July 11 for these 232 personnel to help suppress insurgency in Northern Samar and promote sustainable peace and development among communities,” said Police Lt. Col. Ma. Bella Rentuaya, spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP) regional office here in an interview Wednesday, July 13.

In a statement, PNP Eastern Visayas director Police Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac expressed optimism that the people would feel secure with the presence of government forces in their area.

“The primary objective is to end the operation of the communist terrorist group in the areas and stop their deceptive recruitment. We must end their armed struggle against the government and promote peace,” Banac added.

Hopefully they accomplish that objective. Interestingly enough two PNP firearms were recovered after an encounter with the NPA. 

https://mb.com.ph/2022/07/13/guns-owned-by-2-cops-recovered-from-npa-in-negros-occidental-encounter-site/

A rifle and a handgun owned by two policemen were recovered from the site of an encounter between the military and New People’s Army (NPA) last week in Barangay Santol, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental.

The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) said Tuesday, July 12, that the two firearms – a Springfield M14 rifle and a .45 caliber pistol – were issued to Police Corporal Jose Ray Bringuez and Police Staff Sgt. Ranulfo Estrada.

Bringuez was assigned to Sipalay City Police Station in Negros Occidental while Estrada at the Guihulngan City Police Station in Negros Oriental when the weapons were carted away.

According to the Negros Occidental police, these firearms were stolen from the two policemen when the NPA stormed a Compac in Barangay San Jose, Sipalay City April 30, 2010 and ransacked the La Libertad Municipal Police Station November 3, 2009.

Thankfully their presence was merely due to theft rather than something truly nefarious. 

The AFP keeps pushing at the NPA unrelentingly. This has caused one NPA fighter to die from a nervous breakdown.

https://mb.com.ph/2022/07/13/body-of-npa-who-died-of-nervous-breakdown-from-relentless-govt-pursuit-unearthed-in-iloilo/

The body of a New People’s Army (NPA) rebel who died of nervous breakdown from the relentless pursuit of government soldiers was recovered in a shallow grave in Leon, Iloilo.

Lt. Col. Harold Garcia, Army 61st Infantry Battalion (IB) commander, said troops from the 61st IB unearthed the cadaver of Glezer Hembra, alias “Karl,” “Bonet,” and “Ram-Ram,” in Barangay Bucari.

Hembra’s body was found after former NPA rebel alias “Toto” who surrendered to authorities last January pinpointed the location of his remains.

Hembra allegedly died last year from a nervous breakdown he suffered as a result of soldiers closing in behind them. He was hastily buried by his comrades in an unmarked and shallow grave.

Hembra was said to be a squad member of the Suyak Platoon of the NPA Southern Front Committee in Panay Island.

Soldiers also recovered ammunition and other items buried with him – 30 rounds for an M16 rifle, 15 cartridges of 5.56mm ball, backpacks, chargers for commercial radios, electrical wires, electrical sockets, surgical gloves, plaster tapes, and intravenous cannulas.

Garcia assured that Hembra’s body will be returned to his family for a proper burial.

So many unanswered questions. How old was this man? How exactly did he die from a nervous breakdown? How did his comrade know he died from a nervous breakdown and why should he be believed? Has or will the body be autopsied to verify that claim? Why was he buried with so much equipment?

Bulatlat has been denied a TRO to prevent the NTC from blocking their website. The reason is quite surprising.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/13/22/court-denies-bulatlat-tro-plea-vs-order-to-block-websites

A Quezon City court has denied the plea for a temporary restraining order (TRO) filed by independent media website Bulatlat against the National Telecommunications Commission’s (NTC) order blocking access to some 20 websites allegedly linked to communist rebels.

Judge Dolly Rose Bolante-Prado of QC Regional Trial Court Branch 36 declined to issue the TRO after finding, during a hearing on Wednesday morning, that she could still access the website on her phone.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Bulatlat managing editor Ronalyn Olea and one of its lawyers Minnie Lopez, tried to show the judge that they were unable to access the website using their own phones.

“We reiterate our position that our constitutional rights are violated here because we cannot distribute our content to the widest audience possible. And as our lawyer stated earlier, the web visitors dropped by a significant 43 percent to 50 percent since the order of the NTC to block our websites,” Olea told the media after the hearing.

But Bolante-Prado denied the TRO plea citing the lack of urgency because some can still access the website.

“The Court is of the view that the requisites for the issuance of a TRO are not present in the case at bar. Obviously, the Court itself was able to gain access to the plaintiff’s website,” she said in her order denying the TRO. 

The judge continued, “The Court noted that the plaintiff was able to publish the latest news and its commentaries on recent issues of public interest. Its website is still accessible to the public, hence, there is clearly no suppression of the constitutionally guaranteed right to free speech.” 

They were denied the motion because the judge said she was able to access the website. How is that? Bulatlat.com is blocked.  Did she know that the domain is now .org?  Did she go to their Facebook page? Either way this undercuts the whole order to shutdown websites allegedly linked to the CPP-NPA-NDF. Any webmaster with half a brain is going to know how to get around such things as being blocked.  A simple domain name change is all one has to do. Then you alert your readers via social media. So nothing was achieved with this order. This judge's ruling shows just how stupid and ineffective is the blocking of these websites.

During its first meeting under the new administration the NTF-ELCAC did not address Esperon's order to block those websites but they did bring up the idea of offering amnesty to the rebels.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/838274/ntf-elcac-recommends-amnesty-offer-for-communist-rebels/story/

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is strongly recommending to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. the offering of amnesty to address communist insurgency.

NTF-ELCAC arrived at the decision on Friday after its first executive committee meeting under the Marcos administration.

"The task force strongly recommends the need for offering an amnesty to prevent the resurgence of the communist terrorist groups, especially in geographically, challenged, isolated, and disadvantaged areas,” the group said in a statement.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Clarita Carlos said the declaration of amnesty and the possible revival of peace talks would depend on Marcos' decision.

"That is the decision that the president of the republic will make," she said at a press conference when asked if they would also be eyeing for the revival of peace talks with communist rebels.

"And if you will notice in the statement, our statement really is recommending to the President because it is the president who will make the ultimate decision in regard to the amnesty declaration," Carlos added.

When pressed for details about how such an amnesty would work Carlos was unable to give any details deciding to leave it up the decision of the President. However surrendering rebels are practically given amnesty when they avail of the government's bribery program of free cash, housing, and job training so it might follow that model. 

In-person classes are set to resume soon and that has the AFP worried.

https://www.panaynews.net/army-wary-of-npa-recruitment-as-in-person-classes-set-to-resume/

The Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) based in Jamindan, Capiz is wary of New People’s Army (NPA) recruitment activities in schools.

The new school year 2022-2023 begins this Aug. 22, with full face-to-face classes resuming by November.

“Pinaghahandaan na natin ang opening ng classes to stop NPA recruitment of students via front organizations. They are targeting minors who are easily deceived,” said Army Captain Kim Apitong, spokesperson of the 3ID.

The Army is particularly coordinating with schools in Iloilo, Capiz and Negros Island.

“We have Civil Military Operation (CMO) officers across Western Visayas,” revealed Apitong.

In 2019 the 3ID deployed soldiers to select schools to prevent NPA recruitment. One of those was West Visayas State University – Calinog, Iloilo Campus.

The 3ID urged parents and guardians to guide their children well and dissuade them from joining militant youth groups that serve as “legal fronts” of the NPA.

Which level of schooling are they talking about? Elementary schools, universities, high schools? There are no "legal fronts of the NPA." What he means is legal fronts of the CPP. And if those groups are present it should be easy to bar them from campus.