Rebels in Antique rendered useless

From the Manila Times (Mar 18): Rebels in Antique rendered useless

THE Armed Forces of the Philippines has declared Antique as insurgency-free, bringing to 25 the number of provinces that it claimed were completely freed from the influence of the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

“The CNN [CPP-NPA-NDF] here in Antique is already insignificant,” Maj. Gen. Jose Mabanta, Third Infantry Division commander, said after he and Gov. Exequiel Javier of Antique signed a joint declaration proclaiming Antique as “manageable conflict-affected and development-ready.”

“The joint declaration of Antique as manageable conflict-affected and development-ready means that the province is an insurgency-free province and at this time, we were able to overcome the so called fear of communist affectation. We are now moving out of that and ready to accept investment,” he added.

According to Mabanta, the issuance of a joint declaration was also a manifestation that the rebel group has been rendered incapable of expanding its forces and waging isolated armed conflict.

He pointed out that since January 2012, there has been no incident of encounter between government force and the Maoist rebels in the province.

But despite the victory, he said that the military is not putting its guard down and will continue in its efforts, in coordination with local government units and other stakeholders, to end the insurgency.

“This is another milestone in the implementation of the IPSP [Internal Peace and Security Plan]-Bayanihan, which has been very effective and has made significant progress in our thrust to end the insurgency like what we did in the province of Aklan,” Mabanta added.

In December 8, 2011, Aklan was also declared as insurgency-free. Since then there has also been no NPA-related incident of violence.

Mabanta attributed their success to the government’s new anti-insurgency program, the IPSP-Bayanihan, which, he claimed has identified the main issues in our society that are now being addressed by the government.

He also appealed anew to the local communist leaders to sit down with local and military officials for the sake of peace and development.

Earlier declared as rebels-free were the provinces of Aklan, Apayao, Ifugao, Kalinga, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Biliran, Cebu, Bohol, Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, South Cotabato, La Union, Panga-sinan, Tarlac, Cavite, Marinduque, Romblon, Guimaras, Siquijor and northern and southern Leyte.

According to the military, the rebel group’s strength has dwindled to 4,043 from its peak of 24,430 in the 1980s.

But the militant group maintained that the NPA’s revolutionary forces were steadily growing in strength and poised for a big leap in the coming years.

It said that the Army report was pure “hogwash,” adding that IPSP-Bayanihan is also “hogwash” and a complete failure in terms of its objective of decimating the Maoist rebels.
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/regions/43783-rebels-in-antique-rendered-useless