Caraga army general cites gains in CSP implementation

From the Philippine Information Agency (Mar 28): Caraga army general cites gains in CSP implementation

The fall of two top New Peoples’ Army (NPA) leaders in a matter of month coupled with the rising number of rebels coming down to heed the state call to return to the fold of the law has led the top AFP official in Caraga region to say that the Community Support Program (CSP) here has continued to yield good results.

Brigadier General Franco Nemesio Gacal, commander of the 402nd Infantry (Stingers) Brigade of the Philippine Army (PA), whose area of responsibility (AOR) covers the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Islands and the northern part of Surigao del Sur, said that a quantum leap in achievement had been noted since CSP was launched early this year.

CSP, an army-initiated endeavor, was simply defined by Gacal as a “convergence program” which had been “hitting rebels hard” thus the favorable chain of events. He added that the presence of government had already started to be felt in insurgency-affected communities now keeping these areas become useful ones.

Among the telltale signs noticed that the half-century old insurgency problem had begun to dwindle in strength was the fall of both Leonida Padilla Guao and Pablo Campos aka “Batik” or “Ponsoy” in February, the Caraga army general bared.

Army reports tagged Guao, 64, as head of the Finance and Education Bureau of the Northeastern Mindanao Regional Committee (NMRC) of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) while Campos, 43, as front secretary and political officer of Guerilla Front Committee (GFC) 21A.

BGen. Gacal indicated that the capture of both rebel leaders would lead to more triumphs.

On March 3, an NPA couple identified as Aladin and Luzviminda Apolinaria were reportedly nabbed by joint police and army operatives in Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte for violation of R.A. 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012 as well as R.A. 7610 or Anti-Child Abuse Law.

Allegedly, the couple were involved in recruiting child warriors to join the NPA ranks.

http://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1006253