Once again the AFP claims the NPA is on the way out. This time in Abra.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1205890 |
The Philippine Army in Abra said the New People's Army (NPA) in the province is now at its ‘lowest point’ as locals now want peace and development versus giving support to the terrorist organization.
Brig. Gen. Ferdinand Melchor dela Cruz, commander of the Army's 501st Infantry Brigade (501st IBde), said in an interview on Tuesday that “their area is just now limited to terrains that they are familiar with. They still have a few supporters but those who drove them out of the community are also their previous supporters who opt to have peace and development in their places."
The 501st IBde covers the whole of Abra and four towns of Mountain Province aside from Region 1.
Dela Cruz cited the tri-boundaries of Abra, Mountain Province and Ilocos where the former supporters were the ones who declared the rebels as "unwanted" in their communities and urged them to surrender and lay down their arms.
He advised the public to stop supporting the remaining NPA insurgents, encourage them to surrender and support the peace efforts of the government.
“When they are weak, they cannot terrorize, they cannot sow terror and they cannot make the people afraid of them. Let us take advantage of this situation when the NPAs are so weak. Let us continue to support the call for their surrender,” the Army officer said.
Dela Cruz also cited the gains of the whole-of-nation approach to ending the insurgency, where various government agencies put their resources together to bring development in far-flung areas targeted by the NPAs.
He said the people feel the government’s presence and support its development efforts, including the construction of roads, provision of livelihood, electrification and education for the youth.
Abra is in the Cordillera region where the AFP claims the NPA is a "spent force."
The AFP has vowed to step up operations to recover more firearms in Negros but they have also found arms caches elsewhere.
First in Quezon.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1803438/explosives-cache-hidden-by-alleged-npa-rebels-found-in-quezon |
Government forces recovered on Monday a cache of explosives allegedly hidden by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Calauag town in Quezon province, a police report said on Tuesday, July 18.
Colonel Ledon Monte, Quezon police chief, said police and Army soldiers, guided by an anonymous tip, found the location of the explosives at 3:15 p.m.
Monte said the government forces found five improvised explosive devices inside a black bag in Barangay Kigtan.
“The insurgency-free status in our province did not stop with a mere declaration. We will continue to safeguard our province against any traces of evil brought about by leftist adversaries,” Monte said in his report.
It's rather interesting that the AFP admits that a "mere declaration" that Quezon is insurgency free does not make it so. Quezon was declared insurgency free on back in June.
The AFP also arrested two NPA "amazons."
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| https://mb.com.ph/2023/7/18/2-npa-amazons-caught-in-atimonan-quezon |
Two New People’s Army amazons were arrested by the police and military here recently.
The 201st Infantry Brigade (IB) identified them as Miguela Piñero, alias “Migs,” political guide, Platun Reymark, Sub-regional Military Area 4-B (SRMA 4-B), and Rowena Dasig alias “Rian,” a member of Platun Reymark, SRMA 4-B.
Seized from them were a caliber .45, a caliber .38, two rifle grenades, a hand grenade, blasting caps, various cellular phones, three USB flash drives, a laptop, two backpacks, and personal belongings.
Piñero is facing murder charges before the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 2 in Lucena City, Quezon; Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 53, Lucena City, and Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 62 in Gumaca, Quezon.
If only they had surrendered they would have been able to avail of millions of pesos of aid in housing and training.
The other cache was found in E. Samar.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1205935 |
Acting on a tip from a former rebel, troopers from the Philippine Army recovered an arms cache in an upland village of Can-avid, Eastern Samar on Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Rodito Gotladera, commander of the Philippine Army’s 42nd Infantry Battalion, said in a statement that unearthed firearms in upland Buco village in Can-avid town included five M14 rifles, four M16 rifles, a shotgun, an M79 grenade launcher, a banned anti-personnel mines, and other war materiel.
Before this recovery, a former rebel recently disclosed to soldiers the exact location of the buried arms cache.
“We will be stepping up our military and non-military operations to track down the location of the remaining NPA members, and their loose firearms, and prevent their recovery efforts here in Eastern Samar. Today’s recovery significantly blows the capacity of communist rebels on their nefarious acts,” Gotladera said.
He reiterated the Army's commitment to intensify efforts to locate more firearms hidden by armed rebels and prevent them from “recovering their lost ground” in Eastern Samar.
In Sorgoson the highest CPP-NPA official was shot dead by the AFP.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/regions/876203/alleged-cpp-npa-official-shot-dead-in-sorsogon/story/ |
An alleged official of the CPP-NPA in Sorsogon was shot dead after an exchange of fire with PNP intelligence operatives in Casiguran town.
According to John Consulta's report on "24 Oras" on Tuesday, killed in the shoot-out was Fernando Dialogo, known by the aliases Jepoy, Enkar, and Karen. Four of his companions surrendered as well, the police said.
In a statement, the PNP said Dialogo is the highest CPP-NPA official in Sorsogon. The report showed the police officers tramping through muddy forest to get to the alleged rebels' hideout.
"Itong operation na ito dates back to 2021, medyo nahirapan ang tropa natin dahil palipat-lipat sila and they are highly mobile," said PNP Chief Police General Benjamin Acorda.
“This operation is based on the serving of eight warrants. Five of these are involving murder, isa ay violation of anti-terrorism law at the other two ay sa firearms and ammunition law,” he also said.
Three M16 Armalites, an M203 grenade launcher, and ammunition were also confiscated.
In a separate operation, another alleged CPP-NPA official, Romeo Cudal alias Mon, was arrested in Quirino.
With a P750,000 reward for his capture, Cudal is wanted on multiple murder, direct assault with murder charges.
Meanwhile In Negros the AFP says there will be no letup in the fight abasing the NPA.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2023/7/22/army-3rd-id-chief-no-letup-vs-npa-in-negros |
The commanding general of the Army 3rd Infantry Division (ID) vowed no letup in the campaign against remaining New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Negros Island.
“For those who refuse peace, we will continue to pursue you until you are rendered irrelevant. We will not stop until our communities are free from your atrocities,” said Major Gen. Marion Sison in a statement on Saturday, July 22.
“We will not stop in dismantling the NPA,” added Sison following an encounter where notorious NPA hitman Marivic “Ka Ivan” Ebarle and his comrade were killed in Moises Padilla town, Negros Occidental province on Thursday, July 20.
Ebarle allegedly killed suspected military informants and government supporters and led extortion and harassment activities in Negros Occidental.
Brig. Gen. Orlando Edralin, commander of the Army 303rd Infantry Brigade (IB), thanked residents for providing information to the Army.
“We have been gaining ground because of the support of the people,” Edralin said.
Surely Negros will be declared insurgency free soon.
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