Insurgency: Crush Insurgency Within Bongbong Marcos' Term

There's a new AFP Chief in town. He's slinging the same old guns and promising the same old promises as his predecessors. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1650193/new-afp-chief-vows-to-crush-insurgency-within-bongbong-marcos-term

The new chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines vowed to end the country’s insurgency problem within the six-year term of President Marcos Jr.

“Before the administration of President Marcos ends, I believe we can end the insurgency problem),” said Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro during his visit to Camp Lukban, the headquarters of the 8th Infantry Division based here on Saturday (August 20).

Bacarro admitted they made the same vow during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte but failed to accomplish it.

He, however, stressed that the campaign against insurgency during the Duterte administration has significantly reduced the “power factor” of the rebels across the region.

Bacarro said they managed to reduce the number of communist rebels and their number of firearms.

When he assumed his post early this month, Bacarro said his “marching order” to all the division commanders down the line is to quell the insurgency problem and to “sustain” all the gains they have accomplished for the past months.

At least he admits that they AFP failed to accomplish this same goal under the last administration. But that goes all the way back to at least 1986 when every subsequent administration gave the promise that the insurgency would end by the end of their term. As for reduction in rebels the latest province to be declared insurgency free is Davao Occidental.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1181644

The Army's 10th Infantry Division (ID) has formally declared the Davao Occidental province as “insurgency-free" during a ceremony held in Malita town on Thursday.

Major Gen. Nolasco Mempin, the Army's 10ID commander, said the declaration was the result of aggressive military and police operations, leading into the collapse of the New People’s Army (NPA) operating in the province.

In particular, Mempin lauded the anti-insurgency campaign of the Army's 1002nd Infantry Brigade, the Army's 73rd Infantry Battalion, and the Philippine National Police (PNP) field units in the province.

He said NPA Guerilla Front (GF) Tala, which was once active in the peripheries of the province, is considered "cleared," based on the parameters set forth by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the PNP.

Mempin said insurgency issues and concerns were resolved in identified conflict-affected areas and geographically- isolated and disadvantaged areas, resulting in the "demolition" of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) in the province.

Meanwhile, Mempin said they are also optimistic to declare the Davao Region insurgency-free on or before Sept. 30.

He said only one NPA unit remains active before Davao Region can be declared “insurgency-free”, the weakened NPA GF-18 operating in Davao Oriental province.

“The Eastern Mindanao Command gave us the timeline to declare the region as insurgency-free until September 30. We are trying our best that it will not reach that deadline for us to dismantle the remaining NPA unit,” Mempin said.

The AFP hopes to declare the whole of Davao insurgency free by September 30th by defeating the lone NPA unit remaining. But what about the ASG, Maute, and MNLF? What about ISIS? What about the Islamic insurgency? Won't they still be around? How could they declare Davao completely insurgency free if there are still Muslim insurgents around? They don't say. Probably best not to ask. 

The AFP is banking on the remaining insurgents surrendering. Surrenders continue to happen every single week but here is a notable instance.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1182199

Twelve communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels surrendered to police authorities during the implementation of the Simultaneous Anti-Criminality Law Enforcement Operation (SACLEO) in the region on Thursday.

The NPA surrenderers are from the provinces of South Cotabato, Sarangani, and Sultan Kudarat. They opted to yield because of physical exhaustion.

Brig. Gen. Jimili Macaraeg, the Soccsksargen police director, said 10 out of the 12 surrenderers were from South Cotabato, one from Sarangani, and one from Sultan Kudarat.

All the surrenderers brought along with them their firearms.

“It is the deception, futile armed struggle, and the realization that government has a clearer intention to address their issues that prompted the surrenderers to firmly resolve to be on the folds of government,” Macaraeg said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

“I am overwhelmed that they have finally committed their allegiance to the government and lay down their arms,” he said of the surrenderers’ “right choice" of leaving the communist ideology, urging other rebels to follow suit.

If it looks like there are only eight people in that infographic it's because the other 4 are in the background and can hardly be seen. Who is making this awful propaganda? And why is the first guy in the yellow shirt not holding up a placard? The blurring of the faces won't prevent these men from being recognized by those who may know them intimately.

Despite Davao Occidental being declared insurgency free the AFP is beefing up the IP militia.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1181886

Although Davao Occidental has been declared insurgency-free, the military has continued to capacitate the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in the area to defend themselves against communist rebels attempting to encroach on their ancestral domains.

"It helped that we have trained some of the IPs to defend themselves, their lands, and the members of their tribes against attempts of the New People's Army (NPA) rebels to harass them,” 2nd Lt. Tiffany Joy Bago, the Army’s 73rd Infantry Battalion (73IB) civil-military officer, said in a press briefer Monday.

Bago said the 73IB has witnessed how the IP militia, also called Bagani, aided them in dismantling New People's Army (NPA) units in the province.

“They would volunteer to undergo training, and they became our eyes in the area making sure that their community is secure," she said.

In addition, Bago said the military has also been consistent in strengthening its presence and relations with the residents, who previously were forced to shelter and provide food for the NPA's dismantled guerrilla fronts in Davao Occidental.

What is this other than a tacit admission that the NPA has some strength left in it? 

Remember in 2018 when former DND Secretary Lorenzana admitted that the AFP stopped urban warfare training because they did not use it? Well now they are finally relearning that skill.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1181932

Around 500 Filipino and Australian troops will be exchanging knowledge and skills on jungle and urban operations in a more than two-month long bilateral training maneuvers dubbed "Exercise Kasangga".

In a statement Tuesday, Philippine Army (PA) spokesperson Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the exercise formally started on yesterday and will end in October at Camp Pablo Tecson in San Miguel, Bulacan.

"The PA, through the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR), and the Land Mobile Training Team of the Australian Army commenced Exercise Kasangga aimed at bolstering defense ties and strengthening interoperability between the two armies in urban and jungle operations," he added.

Trinidad said FSRR and the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment troops would share skills and knowledge on jungle operations.

"Meanwhile, Australian troops will assist FSRR troops in sharpening their urban operations capabilities," he added.

Around 400 FSRR troops will train side-by-side with nearly a hundred Australian troops in the ongoing bilateral exercise.

I am sure this is not the first time since 2018 the AFP has been relearning urban warfare training. Hopefully they keep it up even if they don't use the skill.

Perhaps the biggest development this week in the fight against the insurgency is the reported death of the Tiamazons who are the heads of the CPP. Reportedly they died in an explosion after an encounter with the AFP on the high seas. However, no bodies have been recovered yet.

https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/23/without-bodies-military-faces-dead-end-in-confirming-demise-of-tiamzon-couple/

The death of suspected communist leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon during an encounter with troops still could not be verified by the 8th Infantry Division (8ID) of the Philippine Army (PA) due to the absence of their remains, a ranking military official admitted Tuesday, August 23.

Elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)’s Joint Task Force (JTF) Storm had to call off their search, rescue, and retrieval operations on an exploded motorbanca supposedly carrying “high-ranking VIPs” from the New People’s Army (NPA) in Catbalogan City, Samar due to bad weather, said Maj. Gen. Edgardo De Leon, commander of 8ID.

“(The troops were recalled and they could not get anything. The weather here is not good),” De Leon said.

De Leon admitted feeling pressure in confirming the death of Benito, the pinpointed chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), and his wife, Wilma, the alleged Secretary General of CPP-NPA, as this will surely have a big impact on the operations of country’s the primary communist forces.

However, the two-star general could only bank on the information provided by a tipster to the intelligence unit of the JTF Storm that the couple were indeed onboard the exploded motorbanca.

“(The information provided to me by the intelligence unit is that highly likely, there is a high-level of certainty the [couple] were onboard),” De Leon said.

But even the seasoned commander did not want to take risks in assuming the couple’s death based on mere assumptions, recognizing the possible repercussions that it may have on the military’s reputation if proven otherwise.

“(But I asked them if they can say 100 percent that the subjects were really there despite the absence of physical evidence? I understand that the public wants physical evidence, and they could not provide any),” De Leon said.

“(My only worry is that if I declare they have died, what if they presented a proof life later on? What if later on they say that General de Leon is lying or it’s just part of a propaganda and they have a proof of life? I’ll be damned),” he emphasized.

It's great the AFP is being cautious before making a statement. Perhaps they died perhaps they got away. The body parts recovered will have to be fully identified before anything can be known definitely. It should not be forgotten that Duterte released these two people in 2016 in a bid to restart the peace talks. 

Along with the potential demise of the Tiamzon couple a ranking CPP official has been arrested in Quezon City.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1653462/pnp-chief-azurin-says-ranking-cpp-officer-arrested-in-quezon-city

An alleged ranking officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has been arrested in Quezon City purportedly for multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder.

According to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., Adora Faye De Vera has an outstanding warrant of arrest issued by Judge Guilljie Delfin Lim of Iloilo City’s Regional Trial Court Branch 22.

Azurin said Thursday that de Vera was arrested in Teacher’s Village on Wednesday afternoon.

“De Vera is the subject of a Warrant of Arrest without bail, issued by the Court for the crime of Multiple Murder and Multiple Frustrated Murder with the Use of Explosives, particularly anti-personnel landmines that are outlawed by international conventions on warfare,” the PNP chief said in a press briefing in Pampanga.

“She is also accused in a separate criminal case for the crime of rebellion,” he added.

Citing police records, Azurin claimed de Vera is a staff officer of the General Command of the CPP, New People’s Army (NPA), and National Democratic Front, as well as the secretary of the Central Front of CPP-NPA Regional Committee-Panay.

In an unexpected twist de Vera is the sister of the current CHed Chairman Prospero de Vera. He has disavowed her activities and said he will let the law take its course. But how long until he is red-tagged by the authorities?