Communist-affected villages, NPA attacks rise in Mindanao

From the Business Mirror (Dec 25): Communist-affected villages, NPA attacks rise in Mindanao

The number of barangays affected by the New People’s Army (NPA) in Mindanao has increased during the first six months of 2017, according to the military, which also noted a spike in the number of attacks carried out by the rebels during the same period.

The NPA and its political arm, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), had been declared a “terrorist” group by President Duterte following his scuttling of the peace talks with their umbrella organization, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Based on data presented late last month by former military spokesman and now Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs Maj. Gen. Restituto F. Padilla Jr., the rebels have maintained influence in 49 barangays in Western Mindanao as of June 2017, up from the 15 barangays at the end of 2016.

In Eastern Mindanao the guerillas also wield influence in 368 barangays as of the same period, up from 189 barangays at the end of 2016.

Earlier, the Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom), through its spokesman Maj. Ezra Balagtey, reported that 45 percent of the total strength of the rebels, or about 2, 000 armed members, is concentrated within their operational areas.

The operational jurisdiction of the Eastmincom covers the whole area of Caraga, Davao provinces and parts of Northern Mindanao and Soccsksargen regions. The rest of the rebels or the remaining 55 percent are scattered in Luzon and in the Visayas.

Although the number of villages affected by the guerillas in the areas covered by the two military area commands in Mindanao went higher, the rebels, however, posted no increase in the number of their guerilla fronts within Western and Eastern Mindanao.

The NPA has no front in Western Mindanao as of June 2017, while it managed to maintain its 20 guerilla fronts in the areas of Eastern Mindanao.

A guerilla front is equivalent to a size of a company in the Armed Forces.

According to the same data presented by Padilla, the number of “activities” initiated by the rebels in Eastern Mindanao grew to 13 as of the first semester of 2017 from the three that were recorded as of the end of 2016. It also spiked in Eastern Mindanao, as it logged 276 from 204 for the same period.

From January 2017 up to November, the NPA has initiated a total number of 353 “violent” incidents in Eastern Mindanao and 16 in Western Mindanao.

The military categorized the incidents as ambush, raid;, “nuisance” harassment, disarming, harassment, landmine/IED attack, “Sparu” operations, liquidation; kidnapping; robbery holdup, bombing, arson and sabotage. The six highest violent activities that were carried out by the NPA were nuisance harassment, harassment, arson, kidnapping, landmine attack and kidnapping in that order. The military data also showed that the burning incidents carried out by the rebels against business establishments, especially mining companies increased in Mindanao.

From January 2017 up to November, the guerillas undertook a total of 56 arson incidents in Eastern and Western Mindanao, destroying property worth at least 224.6 million. The number of attacks is higher than the 31 burning incidents that were recorded as of the end of 2016 in the same parts of Mindanao. A total of P101.56 million worth of property and equipment was destroyed in these attacks.

While Duterte has tagged the CPP and the NPA as terrorists groups and scuttled the peace negotiations, he has, however, declared a unilateral cease-fire with the rebels covering Christmas and the New Year.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/communist-affected-villages-npa-attacks-rise-in-mindanao/