From the Philippine Star (Oct 27): NPA frees barangay exec
The New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas who snatched six barangay officials and a civilian volunteer officer in Loreto town, Agusan del Sur last Thursday released one of their captives to send their demands to the authorities.
Barangay councilor Ma. Gina Bantuasan of the village of Sabud conveyed the rebels’ demands to Mayor Dario Otaza.
Bantuasan told the crisis committee, which Otaza heads, that the rebels want the deactivation or resignation of the 50 new members of the government militia, and the pull-out of a team of Army soldiers involved in the community peace and development efforts in the town.
The committee was unfazed by the rebels’ demands and decided to continue with the combat operations against the NPA.
The committee expressed confidence that the military forces would be able to catch the rebels who kidnapped the barangay officials.
http://www.philstar.com/nation/2013/10/27/1249748/npa-frees-barangay-exec
Some folks have labeled the AFP's Internal Peace & Security Plan known as OPLAN Bayanihan a failure because it has not made a significant dent in the overall strength of the Maoist NPA insurgents. But body count is only one measure of effectiveness (MOE). A case can be made that OPLAN Bayanihan's effectiveness lies at undermining NPA influence at the barangay level, thus pushing the insurgents further and further into evermore remote areas of the country. This constriction of NPA movement and cutting off its ability to fund its operations through the collection of "revolutionary taxes" essentially limits the insurgents ability to hold sway over significant portions of the countryside as it once did in the past. The effectiveness of the Bayanihan program is reflected in the demands of the NPA. One of the demands is the removal of the Army's Bayanihan Peace and Development Team whose presence undermines NPA control and influence at the barangay level.
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