Army chief calls on NPA to surrender but admits rebels won't be beat without 'social pressure'

From InterAksyon (Aug 20): Army chief calls on NPA to surrender but admits rebels won't be beat without 'social pressure'



NPA guerrillas in the Caraga region (InterAksyon.com file by Erwin Mascarinas)

Saying 46 years of armed struggle has gotten them nowhere, Army commander Lieutenant General Eduardo Ano again urged the New People’s Army to surrender but, at the same time, acknowledged that military might alone would not be enough to defeat the communist rebels.

Which is why Ano said they would continue to intensify both “military and social pressures” as a strategy.

“Eventually that is going to be the final solution. With only 4,000 of them remaining it is impossible to kill all of them … very costly. All you have to do is really to provide the pressure so that they will realize that there is no sense in fighting, the armed struggle is no longer relevant, it’s already a farce,” he said.

Over the years, all chiefs of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines began their stints with promises to eliminate or decisively defeat the communist rebels. All have retired with the NPA still a force to reckon with despite billions of pesos spent yearly by government for its counterinsurgency programs, including the current administration’s Internal Peace and Security Plan Bayanihan.

When he took over the 90,000-strong Army, Ano admitted that the threats posed by the NPA and other armed groups in some areas of Mindanao, such as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the Abu Sayyaf remained their priority.

This ran counter to previous statements of AFP and Department of National Defense officials that the military was ready or has been transitioning to external defense in the face of China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

Ano also admitted the Army is still struggling to modernize its equipment and capability to deal with internal threat groups.

In fact, AFP chief General Hernando Irriberi earlier recommended the realignment of funds intended for external defense projects – among these the P6.5-billion Shore-Based Missile System -- to prioritize the upgrading of equipment and capabilities of soldiers in battling internal threats.

The move earned Irriberi and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin flak from security experts.

Still, earlier this week, Gazmin admitted the AFP cannot achieve the minimum credible external defense posture President Benigno Aquino III promised before he steps down in 2016.

Also recently, notwithstanding predictions of victory over the rebels, the government issued new rules handing back to the military the main responsibility for internal security and relegating the Philippine National Police to a supporting role, notwithstanding the declaration of many provinces as “insurgency-free.”

Ano also urged all sectors, including media, to work with government to convince the rebels to abandon armed struggle.

He said military pressure through focused operations should work in tandem with social pressure through the support and cooperation of all stakeholders.

“The social pressure includes alternative options like developmental projects, engaging the rebels through peace negotiations, convincing them to lay down their arms in exchange of alternative livelihoods, among others,” Ano said.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/116320/army-chief-calls-on-npa-to-surrender-but-admits-rebels-wont-be-beat-without-social-pressure