Insurgency: NPA-Linked Schools

Another day another rebel surrenders. Except this is not just any rebel. This is a guy who has been at it since 1986 and who is only surrendering now at the pleading of his wife who is a village councilor.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1179840

Convinced by his wife who is a village councilor, a New People’s Army (NPA) rebel involved in “agaw armas” (weapon grabbing) surrendered to authorities in Zamboanga Sibugay province, an official said Tuesday.

Col. John Francis Encinareal, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Zamboanga Peninsula (CIDG-9) chief, said Belandro Guilayan, 54, surrendered around 7 p.m. Monday at the CIDG field office in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay.

Encinareal said Guilayan surrendered after his wife, a councilor in Barangay Lacnapan of Kabasalan town, convinced him to turn himself in so that he could live as a free man.

The CIDG official withheld Guilayan's wife's identity.

Guilayan told authorities that he was recruited in 1986 by Joseph Pandi alias Kumander Kulong and Pandi’s wife, Risky, an NPA medic.

He served as an “agaw armas” to collect firearms for NPA rebels targeting personnel of the municipal police in Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay.

Guilayan also served as a member of the NPA’s Guerrilla Yunit Propaganda Uno in the towns of Kabasalan, Siay, Diplahan, Buug, and Naga, all in Zamboanga Sibugay.

Encinareal said Guilayan “was still involved in rallies conducted by the white area's movement of the NPA” although he returned to Lacnapan village in December 2017.

There are a lot of questions raised here that this article does not answer. How did this couple meet? When did they meet? Was this lady part of the NPA too? How was she elected to office when she has a direct connection to the NPA? Did anyone know her husband was in the NPA? If anyone knew was she ever harassed about it by the authorities? Was she ever red-tagged? 

We will never get the answers of course but we can thank God knowing that this man will now get a free benefit package from the government. Here are some others availing of those benefits.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1179995

Two farmer associations here composed of former rebels received some PHP1.3 million worth of farm production equipment from the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), in partnership with the city government.

In a statement Thursday, Mayor Jose Paolo Evangelista said the city agriculturist turned over the equipment to the Nagkahiusang Barangay Linangkob sa Kaunlaran (NABALIK) and the Sikitan Multi-Sectoral Association (SMSA).

Both farming organizations were formed by ex-New People’s Army rebels residing in Barangays Linangkob and Sikitan—two of former NPA–influenced villages in the city. They received the farm equipment on Wednesday afternoon at the city hall grounds.

NABALIK received a mobile rice mill equipment and hand tractor amounting to P954,000, while 114 units of shovels and 114 units of sprayers worth PPH280,000 were given to the SMSA.

The program is under the Capacity Development Related to Agriculture Development that focuses on programs for former rebels in the city to enhance their livelihood and capability.

Ex-rebels are now rice farmers. That gives whole new meaning to red rice. They could package their rice as former-NPA grown! It might be a hit.

Some rebels who do not surrender have not been so lucky as to get free farming equipment paid for by the taxpayer.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1179795

Three fighters of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) were killed Tuesday during an encounter with troops of the Philippine Army's 62nd Infantry Battalion in the hinterlands of Barangay Budlasan, Canlaon City in Negros Oriental.

The slain rebels were identified as Cristina Jacolbe alias Chave, 40, finance officer of CN1; Ernie Jacolbe alias Frezy, 42, vice commanding officer of Section Guerilla Unit, CN1; and Everly Kee Jacolbe alias Kaye, 18, a member of CN1.

Government soldiers clashed with their group of more or less 10 NPA members of the Central Negros 1 (CN1) of the Komiteng Rehiyon-Negros, Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor (KR-NCBS) at around 6:30 a.m. in the remote sub-village of Natuling in Barangay Budlasan. The firefight lasted for about 10 minutes.

The soldiers were patrolling the hinterland area of Barangay Macagahay in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, when they received a report from a civilian on the presence of armed men in the adjacent village of Budlasan.

Aside from the recovery of the bodies of the three rebels, the soldiers also seized a KG9 semi-automatic firearm loaded with a magazine; two caliber .45 pistols with two magazines; a caliber .38 revolver; one shotgun; assorted ammunition; suspected subversive documents; and personal belongings, the report said.

The engaged with about 10 NPA fighters and only three were killed. Those are not good numbers. But it is the usual outcome. If more die or surrender the AFP can declare the village cleared. 15 villages in Northern Samar have now met that criteria.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1180093

At least 15 more remote villages in Northern Samar have been cleared of New People’s Army (NPA) threats based on the recent evaluation by the Philippine Army and local government units.

These villages are Quezon and San Jose in Mapanas town; Anito, Bangon, Cabarasan, Dao, Lonoy, and San Antonio in Gamay; Cabatuan, Campedico, Magsaysay, Maragano, Natawo and Bagacay in Palapag; Can Omanio and Pio del Pilar in Lapinig.

2nd Lt. Joyce Ann Bayron, Philippine Army’s 20th Infantry Battalion spokesperson, said in a phone interview Friday that these areas attained the status through an area clearing evaluation held from July 12 to 13.

After a thorough evaluation of the panel, these communities were found to be clear, peaceful, and resilient from conflicts.

These 15 villages were cleared after it was found that locals have stopped providing any support to the communist terrorist group, hence, driving away the armed rebels from communities.

“Community Support Program (CSP) team members presented what they have found, and this was confirmed by village chiefs. Local officials were given the chance to raise their concerns to the members of the municipal task force to end local communist armed conflict,” Bayron said.

These villages are cleared not because all the NPA are actually gone or have not been seen in the area but because the village chiefs claim they are not giving them any assistance. It's another in a long line of metrics used to declare an area insurgency free.

Schools catering to Indigenous People which are allegedly recruiting grounds for the NPA will not be allowed to reopen.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1179899

With the help of the military, the Department of Education in Davao Region (DepEd-11) is confident that the schools under the Salugpongan Ta'Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center, Inc. (STTICLCI) will not be able to resume operations.

“Before, we would quarrel with the military on who to blame for the existence of these schools. However, through the creation of the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict, we were able to work together to close down these New People’s Army-affiliated schools that also became a breeding ground for child warriors,” DepEd-11 spokesperson Jenielito Atillo said in a press briefing Wednesday.

The military and Salugpongan's former students have long accused the tribal school system of being a training and recruitment ground for the New People's Army (NPA).

In August 2019, DepEd-11 ordered the closure of 55 STTICLCI schools in Davao Region. The decision was grounded on the findings of various regulatory violations, deficiencies, and compliance issues on the part of the school management, apart from its alleged NPA links.

Atillo noted that STTICLCI's closure came “after careful consideration, analysis, and thorough evaluation of the testimonies of the resource persons, key informant and documents submitted.”

Before the closure Salugpongan schools, Atillo said DepEd-11 managed to place its former students in government-accredited schools.

“Not all children enrolled in the Salugpongan schools hailed from Davao Region. Some were from Luzon; they were taken there and brought here so the kids were confined in the schools because they had nowhere else to go,” Atillo said.

This is the culmination of a years long campaign of harassment against these schools. 

http://davaotoday.com/main/politics/a-timeline-of-the-birth-and-attacks-on-salugpongan-schools/

2003

The Salugpongan School started as a literacy-numeracy school for the Talaingod Manobo children. Volunteer teachers were facilitated by the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP).

2007

Salugpongan Schools was established as a formal learning institution aiming to provide basic education to the Manobo and was accredited by the Department of Education.

Its full name, Salugpongan Ta Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center, Inc. (STTICLCI), was derived from its founders, the Salugpongan Ta Tanu Igkanogon (Unity in Defense of Ancestral Land), an organization formed by Talaingod Manobo leaders.

They envisioned to provide the Talaingod Manobo and other IP communities free, quality and culturally relevant education. They said this is the “concrete expression of their collective effort” to defend the Pantaron Mountain Range in their ancestral territory.

2009

Salugpongan school administrators joined in the consultation held by the DepEd for the creation of the Indigenous Peoples Education (IPED) framework.

The framework has become what is now the DepEd Order No. 62 series of 2011, or “Adopting the National Indigenous People’s Education (IPED) Policy Framework intended to be “an instrument for promoting shared accountability, continuous dialogue, engagement, and partnership among government, IP communities, civil society, and other education stakeholders.”

Salugpungan schools encounter the first red-tagging incident from the 60th Battalion, as the DepEd presents evidence that Salugpungan was granted a permit.

2019

July 8 — The DepEd Division released a memorandum calling for the suspension of 54 Salugpongan schools. The issuance was based on the recommendation of National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. that accused the school of not following the DepEd curriculum and teaching “ideologies that advocate against the government”.

How these schools went from being fully accredited by the DepEd to being red-tagged and accused of teaching “ideologies that advocate against the government” is a long complicated story. It is also what makes Sara Duterte's wearing an IP costume at the SONA ridiculous.

Despite the facts of the matter former listed briefly above a former NPA rebel claims the IP schools shut themselves down because they decided to teach rebellion.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1180266

The Indigenous Peoples (IP) themselves decided to put an end to tribal schools linked to communist rebels, not former mayor and now Vice President Sara Z. Duterte.

This was the assertion of Arian Jane Ramos, former secretary of Guerrilla Front 55 of the New People's Army (NPA) based in Southern Mindanao, following the brickbats hurled at the Vice President by certain quarters believed to be allied with communist rebels.

In particular, Ramos, known as Ka Marikit when she was in the NPA, was reacting to allegations that the closure of the Salugpongan schools in Davao and the rest of the region was the handiwork of Duterte.

“The IPs became decisive for the Salugpongan closure and other 'lumad' schools because they knew the real goal of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA,” Ramos said Monday.

She said the Salugpongan tribal schools were “supposed to shape the future of the children and the development of the tribe, “but they  turned out the other way.”

In October 2019,  the Department of Education in Region 11 (DepEd-11) ordered the closure of the controversial Salugpungan Ta'Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center, Inc. (STTICLCI), the school system that managed the Salugpongan schools, for lack of permits and alleged links with the NPA.

Jenelieto Atillo, DepEd-11 spokesperson, made it clear that the decision did not rest solely on STTICLCI's alleged links with the New People's Army (NPA) but also based on the findings that showed various regulatory violations, deficiencies and compliance issues on the part of the school management.

DepEd's probe on STTICLCI came after then National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon alleged that STTICLCI-run schools were being used as training and recruitment centers for the NPA.

Esperon's allegations were based on the testimonies of former STTICLCI students and teachers.

Various tribal councils in Mindanao also issued a resolution demanding the closure of Salugpongan schools, accusing them of turning their children into rebels.

For Ramos, Duterte's decision to support the DepEd's findings and the eventual closure of Salugpongan schools was a reflection of her “motherly love” for Davao City, saying the former mayor was just “looking out for what's best for the majority.”

Duterte's "motherly love for Davao City?" How sickening. As can be seen above these schools were red-tagged by the Army despite being certified by the DepEd back in 2009. There was a constant campaign of harassment from the beginning. The timeline at the link gives a fuller picture. To say the schools shut themselves down is absolutely ludicrous and simplistic. This is the same lady who also claims that Spotify is being used to recruit minors into the NPA.