Red claims fighters to reach 0k

From the Philippine Star (Jul 13): Red claims fighters to reach 0k

The Communist Party of the Philippines claimed on Friday that the strength of its New People’s Army will reach 10,000 armed guerillas because of the Aquino administration’s failure to address the concerns of the Filipino people.

“For the first time in its history, the number of New People’s Army (NPA) Red fighters with high-powered rifles is on its way to reach 10,000 levels in the next few years amidst the utter failure of the Aquino regime,” the CPP said in a statement.

The party made the claim a day after Armed Forces of the Philippines said the number of NPA fighters remained a little over 4,000 fighters from the base number of 4,384 when it launched its Internal Peace and Security Plan “Bayanihan” in January 2011.

AFO chief of staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista said on Thursday that battle setbacks and surrenders had reduced the armed fighters of the New People’s Army by more than 300 so far this year, leaving the insurgents with just over 4,000 guerrillas.

Bautista said the military “neutralized” 323 insurgents, most of whom surrendered to the government.

“We have a significant number of surrenderees from [the] ranks of the NPA… [but] there have been continuous recruitment and it’s unfortunate the recruits they’re getting are from the youth from farmers, indigenous people,” he said.

The military chief singled out Eastern Mindanao as a hotspot of recruitment for the communist insurgency because of economic difficulties brought about by natuaral calamities, like Typhoon Pablo.

“Remember we’re doing that as we also undertake [rehabilitation] efforts in Pablo-affected areas. That’s the sad part of it because there is heightened violence in those calamity areas,” Bautista said.

Bautista said the NPA were also able to extort P200 million in campaign fees from politicians during the last mid-term elections.

Bautista was one of the proponents of the “IPSP Bayanihan,” the military’s blueprint to achieve peace.

It involves the participation of stakeholders and a “greater emphasis on non-combat dimension” to end rebellion. The drive aims to make insurgency insignificant by 2016.

“The campaign remains on track—the Bayanihan timeline by 2016. We will win the peace and if you join us win the peace, all of our people join us win the peace, we can achieve that earlier. It’s for all of us. It’s for our people,” Bautista said, admitting that the insurgency remains a major security threat.

But the CPP said the military’s IPSP Bayanihan is “bound to fail.”

“Clearly, the AFP cannot counter the fact that over the past several years the NPA has steadily continued to grow in strength. The nationwide advances of the revolutionary armed struggle [are] indubitably demonstrated by the increasing frequency and bigger tactical offensives being carried out by the New People’s Army in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao,” the CPP said.

“To portray themselves as impressive, the AFP repeats the baseless claim that the NPA had the peak strength of 25,000 in 1986 but has recently dropped to 6,000 and has further been whittled down to 4,000 under the Aquino regime.

“These are all groundless claims being made by the AFP. In fact, the peak strength of the NPA was only at 6,100 Red fighters with high-powered rifles in 1986,” the party statement said.

“Because of the internal errors, the NPA’s strength slowly declined up to 1992 and thereabouts, when the CPP launched the 2nd rectification movement. By 1998, the NPA strength returned to the level of the early 1980s when it started to make big strides forward,” it added.

The CPP said the NPA is planning to build around 180 guerrilla fronts nationwide with one company of Red fighters each and suppored by armed militias and members of barrio self-defense committees.

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