Insurgency: Smart, Shy, Inflamed Students

Once again it is important to remember that the AFP has declared the CPP-NPA to be strategically defeated and so weakened that they are without leadership meaning they are unable to launch attacks and recruit. Yet we are still being told about the CPP-NPA recruiting. This time it's recruitment at schools. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1969846/cpp-recruitment-detected-in-102-schools-since-2014-pnp-exec

Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) recruitment activities have been observed in 102 educational institutions nationwide since 2014, according to an official of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

At the hearing of the Senate panel on public order and dangerous drugs, PNP’s Directorate for Operations Colonel Randy Arceo also disclosed that 23 of the identified schools have more than one recruitment activity. These educational institutions are:

1. Putian National High School
2. UP Diliman
3. PUP Manila
4. UP Manila
5. UP Tacloban
6. Dr. Luiz Ebaracia National High School
7. Hacienda Intal Elementary School
8. UP Cebu
9. UP Los Baños
10. UP Clark
11. UP Baguio
12. Bicol University
13. De La Salle University
14. Ateneo de Davao
15. WVSU-Calinog Campus
16. MSU Gensan
17. Isabela State University
18. Saint Andres Campus, CSU in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan
19. Rosalio Eduarte National High School
20. Palawan State University
21. Sorsogon National High School
22. Manipugol Elementary School in Maco, Davao de Oro
23. UP Mindanao

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police have accounted [for] a total of 168 militant students who were recruited by the communist terrorist group. As a result of focused military and police operations and law enforcement operations, 36 died during operations, 41 arrested, and 92 others surrendered,” the PNP official likewise revealed during the hearing.

A quick look at the list presented by Arceo shows that alleged CPP members killed during anti-insurgency operations were purportedly students from UP Diliman, PUP Manila, UP Manila, UP Tacloban, UP Cebu, UP Los Baños, UP Clark, UP Baguio, De La Salle University, Isabella State University, Saint Andres Campus, and UP Mindanao.

The AFP claims that over a period of 10 years the CPP-NPA has recruited 168 students. That is a total of 16 members per year. The numbers they give of 36 dead, 41 arrested, and 92 surrendered adds up to 169 which means all 168 recruits are accounted for. 

We are supposed to believe the CPP-NPA is still recruiting on campus despite the AFP saying the CPP-NPA is unable to recruit. Senator Dela Rosa says the perfect recruitment candidate is smart, shy and "angry at the world."

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1969923/dela-rosa-says-cpp-recruiters-target-smart-shy-inflamed-students

Are you intelligent, shy, and somehow angry at the world? Be warned, as you could be an easy target for recruitment by local communist groups, according to Sen. Bato dela Rosa, quoting information from former rebels.

At the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs’ hearing Tuesday, panel head dela Rosa said there is a need for guidance counselors to properly profile their students, noting that certain characteristics are prone to recruitment by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

(You know what, based on those recruiters of the NPA who have surrendered, if you profile your students, you guidance counselors should be good profilers. Profile your students and if you see that they are somehow intelligent, shy, and somehow angry at the world, those are the type of people who are easily recruited to be extremist.)

According to the senator, once a student is recruited to the CPP, he or she will carry firearms and join the NPA.

(That’s why guidance counselors in campuses should identify their students and immediately talk to them. Give them proper counseling because it’s easy for them to get recruited.)

The former chief of the Philippine National Police said recruiters in campuses are skilled when it comes to “picking ripe and low-hanging fruits that may be harvested soon.”

To how many students do one ore more of those characteristics apply? Sounds like a really broad brush Dela Rosa is painting with. Again, it cannot be stressed enough that no less than President Marcos has said the NPA is weakened and thus unable to recruit.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1963882/only-7-weakened-npa-guerrilla-fronts-remain-says-marcos

There are only seven weakened communist New People’s Army guerrilla fronts in the country.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. bared this during his third State of the Nation Address (Sona).

“No guerilla front remains active in our country today, only seven weak fronts to be dismantled, and they are the subject of focused operations,” Marcos said in his Sona.

A weakened guerrilla front means it can no longer implement its programs like recruitment and generating resources for the armed struggle as opposed to active guerrilla fronts, according to the AFP.

The AFP has issued a new number on how many Reds and allies have been neutralized so far in 2024. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1230625

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has "neutralized" a total of 1,311 New People's Army (NPA) members and supporters in the first seven months of this year.

"Neutralized" in military parlance collectively refers to the surrender, arrest, and death of insurgent members or supporters due to ongoing AFP and government efforts.

In a statement Tuesday night, AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said these include 1,121 who surrendered, 97 apprehended, and 93 killed from Jan. 1 to Aug. 1 this year.

"(Aside from this) a total of 728 firearms and 225 anti-personnel mines were either captured or surrendered, and 157 encampments were seized," Padilla noted.

The AFP spokesperson refused to give more details for security reasons.

In the same period, a total of 176 "local terrorist group" (LTG) members were also neutralized -- 124 surrendered, 46 were killed, and six were arrested.

Padilla said a total of 166 firearms and 21 anti-personnel mines were either captured or surrendered, and 10 encampments were seized during military operations aimed against these LTG members.

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has earlier committed to ending the threat posed by the NPA under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s "Bagong Pilipinas" brand of governance.

National Security Adviser and NTF-ELCAC co-vice chair Eduardo Año said the AFP has been successful in destroying the politico-military component of all the 89 active NPA guerrilla fronts since 2018 when the anti-insurgency body was created under Executive Order (EO) 70.

However, just a month ago the NTF-ELCAC said 1.9k Reds and allies have been neutralized in 2024. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1228827

The government's Local Peace Engagement (LPE) initiative has led to the surrender of 1,904 communist insurgents in the first half of the year, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said Friday.

In a statement, the anti-insurgency body said these surrendered former New People's Army (NPA) members came from 299 cleared barangays across the country.

The figure comprises 1,266 full-fledged NPA fighters and 638 Militia ng Bayan members.

Meanwhile, Department of National Defense (DND) Undersecretary Angelito De Leon, head of the NTF-ELCAC's Peace, Law Enforcement, and Development Support Cluster, reported that the NPA's strength has decreased to only 1,251 from 24,000 in the 1980s.

Again, these numbers do not make sense. They contradict one another especially with the NSC claiming at the beginning of the year there were only 1,500 rebels left. It's best not to try and figure it out as I have shown many times the number of NPAs allegedly neutralized and remaining never add up. 

After seven years the DND is finally putting lessons from Marawi into use. 

https://mb.com.ph/2024/8/6/lessons-from-marawi-dnd-buying-over-p11-billion-worth-of-helmet-armor-for-army-troops

Owing to its experience when the Marawi siege suddenly broke out in 2017, the Department of National Defense (DND) is buying P11.707 billion worth of ballistic helmet and military body armor for the Philippine Army (PA) as it looks to keep the soldiers ready despite the security situation in the country being under control.

The DND posted the invitation to bid for the procurement of 115,000 units of ballistic helmet and 115,000 units of Model 2 military body armor on its website. 

The submission and opening of bid envelopes from interested bidders will be held from Tuesday, Aug. 6, to Aug. 20, at the DND Building in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

According to the DND, 23,000 units of ballistic helmet worth P575 million per year and 23,000 units of military body armor worth P1,776,400,000 per year shall be delivered by the winning bidder for a period of five years.

“The procurement is programmed in the Philippine Army as part of its modernization,” Army spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala said.

“This is for the protection of our personnel, that’s the purpose. Since time immemorial, we have no such procurement. We only started buying these things when the Marawi siege started,” he added.

In May 2017, Islamic State (ISIS)-linked Maute Group (MG) and Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) laid siege in the Islamic City of Marawi when government forces tried to capture ASG leader Isnilon Hapilon. The urban battle lasted for five months, claiming the lives of more than 1,000 individuals including 165 soldiers.

According to Dema-ala, the target is to equip all Pa personnel with a complete set of body armor and helmet as part of their uniform.

“The body armor and helmet expire after a certain period so we need to replace them to make all our ballistics reliable,” the Army spokesman explained.

The DND said that the bidding will be opened to foreign and local suppliers, and conducted through “open competitive bidding procedures using a non- discretionary ‘pass/fail’ criterion” as specified in the 2016 revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 9184 or the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Why is the DND only doing this now? More interesting is the admission of "the security situation in the country being under control." If it's under control why worry about recruiting? Especially when the AFP has already admitted the CPP-NPA is weakened to a state they cannot carry on recruitment activities.