Insurgency: War vs NPA Ending

This week gives the nation a huge surprise as the City of Smiles, Bacolod, has been officially declared insurgency free. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1201995

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez welcomed on Monday the declaration of this city as “insurgency-free” during the recent Regional Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Center (RJPSCC) meeting held at the Bacolod City Government Center.

“It is very important for our peace and order. If the threat from that sector is contained, then definitely we will have a peaceful and orderly city,” the mayor said in a press conference.

Benitez pointed out that economic development remains to be the best solution and tool to address insurgency.

“Once we provide livelihood and create economic development, eventually all of these (concerns) will disappear,” he added.

The resolution declaring Bacolod as “insurgency-free” came after a series of successful peace and order initiatives that helped improve the peace and security situation of the city, including the City Council’s declaration of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) as persona non-grata in 2019, the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) said.

In the resolution, the RJPSCC underscored the need for continuous collaboration among the security forces and the community to prevent the resurgence of any communist terrorist group-affiliated sectoral groups and to deter terrorism and other organized crime activities in the city.

“This milestone can be attributed to the sincerity of the people to create an environment suitable for peace and development. Without the active participation of the people in the quest to have an insurgency-free community, this breakthrough would not be possible,” Edralin said.

In a statement, Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, commander of 3ID, urged all security agencies to remain on guard and to deny the CPP-NPA any chance to recover their lost ground.

“Our success shall be measured when the people we are serving grow and expand their skills, boosting productivity and economic progress under the bedrock of reliable regional security,” he added.

Now, this is really odd because in the six years I have been writing about the insurgency not once have I come across a terrorist attack or NPA encounter in Bacolod City. In fact Bacolod is going through a kind of economic resurgence at the moment. 

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1944233/bacolod/business/marcos-leads-inauguration-of-township-development-in-bacolod-city

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has formally inaugurated property giant Megaworld Corporation’s 34-hectare The Upper East by unveiling the township marker, together with Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) Chief Executive Officer Kevin Tan yesterday, October 23.

The township marker highlights the rise of The Upper East as Bacolod City’s first large-scale master planned community on what used to be the site of the historic Bacolod-Murcia Milling Company.

The formal inauguration of The Upper East marks a vibrant beginning for Megaworld in Bacolod City as the company commits to generate more than 500,000 direct and indirect jobs in the province.

The township also plays an instrumental role in helping boost tourism in Bacolod through the construction of hotels and other tourism destinations within the township, the first of which was McDonald’s The Upper East, now known as the “most beautiful McDonald’s store in the Philippines.”

Megaworld is also reinforcing its commitment to help Bacolod’s information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector grow by opening new Peza-accredited office towers that will provide employment to around 100,000 individuals in the next five to ten years.

“Throughout our 33 years as a company, Megaworld has been investing in next-generation cities and provinces in the country. With Bacolod’s modern central business district rising here in The Upper East, Megaworld aligns its efforts with the government’s objectives of generating employment, jumpstarting tourism, and bringing in high-quality investments to the country,” Tan, who also serves as the chief strategy officer for Megaworld, said.

There has not been any insurgency in Bacolod for quite a long time if there ever was. However, there is plenty of insurgency activity in the surrounding countryside and VISCOM says there will be no let up in their attempts to stop it. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1201956

The Visayas Command (Viscom) on Monday warned peace spoilers that their days of sowing fear and terror in Visayan communities are numbered as focused military operations will never stop until they surrender or get neutralized.

“This is never going to stop. We cannot allow these peace spoilers to further sow fear and terror, as our operations will continue without any letup. We will continue to push with our focused military operation and push harder until justice is served for the atrocities that the terrorist group has committed on our people,” Viscom chief Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, said in a statement.

Arevalo said the Armed Forces of the Philippines is determined to end local communist armed conflict in the Visayas soonest.

Arevalo’s statement came as 10 New People’s Army rebels were killed, one surrendered, and another one was arrested in Negros Island in just two days of operations.

On Sunday afternoon, a rebel was killed after an encounter with the members of the 15th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Caliling, Cauayan, Negros Occidental.

On Saturday also, five NPA rebels were killed in three clashes between the members of the 62nd Infantry Battalion and the weakened guerrilla front Central Negros 1 (CN1) of the Komiteng Rehiyon Negros, Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor (KR NCBS) at the different sitios in Barangay Quintin Remo, Moises Padilla in Negros Occidental.

The encounters in Moises Padilla were followed by another clash in the early morning on Sunday where four NPA rebels were killed, one was apprehended and another surrendered in Sitio Cambawgon, Barangay Trinidad in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.

“Our call for peace continues. The door of opportunity for you to return to the folds of the law remains open as we don't want more lives to be wasted,” Arevalo said, as he urged remaining members of the weakened guerrilla fronts in the Visayas to give up and surrender.

As he commended the troops for their efforts in pursuing the peace spoilers, Arevalo said the AFP’s sustained focused military operations proved to be successful against the communist insurgency in the Visayas.

Meanwhile, Gandara town mayor Warren Aguilar in Samar province has called on the remaining fighters of the New People’s Army (NPA) to surrender following a recent clash between government forces and rebels in their town.

In a statement Monday, Aguilar said the local government is ready to assist rebels who will surrender to authorities.

“Through our Local Social Integration Program and Enhanced Local Social Integration Program, we are ready to receive all rebels who will return to the folds of law,” he said.

The mayor issued the statement days after a clash between government troopers and 10 armed rebels in upland Mabuhay village in Gandara town on May 17 where a Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle, two M16 rifle magazines and a backpack with personal belongings were recovered.

All these clashes going on and the AFP says the NPA is irrelevant and ineffective these days. Seems the opposite is true. 

So, Sara Dutere is now co-Vice Chair of the NTF-ELCAC and she is also the DepEd Secretary. What a perfect way for her to combine the two functions. 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/24/vp-duterte-bares-plans-for-a-national-peace-curriculum

Underscoring the need for Filipino youth to realize the value of peace and nation-building, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Wednesday, May 24, revealed plans to institutionalize a national peace curriculum under the Department of Education (DepEd).

The official delivered a speech for the first anniversary of insurgency-free Davao City at Rizal Park in Davao City.

She talked about how she sees education as a way to teach children the ways in which peace affects their lives and future, and the lessons that Davao province learned from freeing once insurgency-ridden Paquibato District from the New People’s Army (NPA) through the Peace 911 initiative.

“The Department of Education is working hard to institutionalize a national peace curriculum to teach our children the value of peace as they build their skills and learn more about conflict resolution and non-violence,” she said.

“Through the national peace curriculum, we strengthen our youth’s resilience, maturity, and sense of patriotism,” Duterte added.

Calling education the “greatest equalizer”, she stated how “opportunities” for graduates will always be the same regardless if they are rich or poor.

“Education, as we know, harbors power that could change the course of our lives and that of our fellowmen,” she said.

The Vice President described education as a “tool that can emancipate us from poverty or injustice.”

“It is also a powerful tool for peacebuilding and combating terrorism,” she added.

Overlooking the fact that some of the most notorious terrorists were well educated what exactly will this program be? Is the nation filled with non-patriotic children? This program is part of the supposition that children are being recruited by the NPA but in no story about this issue are we given detailed facts. Case in point the following:

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1202125

The Philippine Army gathered at least 90 youth leaders in a two-day summit in Catubig, Northern Samar, that aims to stop the recruitment of the New People’s Army (NPA) among young people in the province.

Lt. Col. Joemar Buban, commander of the Army’s 20th Infantry Battalion (20 IB), said in a phone interview Wednesday, the May 20 to 21 summit, seeks to empower and give the youth a voice in advocating peace and nation-building.

“I hope that after the summit, young people will join the good aspirations of the Philippine Army towards a prosperous and peaceful town of Catubig. (That they will realize) that they belong to the generation who wants to solve the problem through peaceful means, without violence,” Buban said.

He encouraged them to be part of the opportunity to finally end the local communist armed conflict and insurgency.

Speakers during the summit were from the Philippine Army, municipal social welfare and development office, rural health unit, municipal environment and natural resources office, local election office, municipal police station, local disaster risk reduction and management office and Bureau of Fire Protection.

There was also a spiritual session and reflection night, bonfire activity and fellowship night.

Rey Christian Sabado, a former NPA fighter who is now a soldier, gave testimony on the deceptive recruitment of rebels. He encouraged the youth to be vigilant and critical of the people and organizations they interact with to avoid deceptive tactics.

The summit also elected the officers of Youth for Peace Movement – Catubig Chapter.

Several upland communities in the province are considered the hotbed of the communist terrorist group due to thick forests and poor road networks.

There are still two active NPA guerrilla fronts in Northern Samar hiding in the upland villages of Catubig, Las Navas, Silvino Lobos, Palapag, Mapanas and Gamay towns in Northern Samar. 

It would be interesting to know what this "spiritual session" was all about. It is interesting to note that the AFP keeps saying there are only two active guerrilla fronts in Northern Samar yet they are supposedly doing a lot of recruiting? Why don't they ever provide any facts about recruitment? And if recruitment is happening then these fronts are not inutile as the AFP would have us believe. 

Like the AFP and every administration since the 1970's Sara Duterte says the NPA is coming to an end.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/05/25/2268874/war-vs-npa-ending-sara

Vice President Sara Duterte yesterday branded the decades-long communist insurgency in the country as a dying movement, saying it is only a matter of time before the war against the New People’s Army (NPA) is put to an end.

“The NPA’s so-called protracted war is ending,” Duterte said during the event commemorating the first anniversary of Davao City’s declaration as insurgency-free.

“The guerrilla warfare tactic is no longer working for them to be able to breathe life into a dying movement,” she said.

Describing the NPA as the “devil,” Duterte, who was recently appointed co-vice chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), recalled their efforts while she was Davao City mayor to remove the rebel group’s presence in the city’s Paquibato district.

If the NPA is a dying movement then why is she and the AFP concerned about recruitment? A dying movement would not be able to recruit.