Wednesday, April 10, 2019

CPP-NPA loses over 500 members, supporters in north Negros: Army

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 10, 2019): CPP-NPA loses over 500 members, supporters in north Negros: Army


NO TO REBELS. Residents of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental denounce the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army during an indignation rally held in Bacolod City on Sunday (April 7, 2019). The marchers expressed their desire for a peaceful and rebel-free community. (Photo courtesy of 79th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army)

The Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) lost more than 500 members and supporters in northern Negros following a series of surrenders since February, the Philippine Army has said.

“In less than three months, the CPP-NPA in our area of operations incurred a total of 538 losses due to a series of mass surrenders of their regular members, militias and mass supporters,” said Lt. Col. Emelito Thaddeus Logan, commander of the 79th Infantry Battalion (79th IB), in a statement on Tuesday.

He said this development is a setback to the communist rebel movement, and a breakthrough to the government’s anti-insurgency campaign.

Last Sunday, 257 residents of San Carlos City denounced the rebel group by staging an indignation rally after attending a two-day live-in seminar, which discussed the ills of communism. The gathering, organized by the 79th IB and the city government, was held from April 6 to 7.

The participants, who came from the villages of Quezon, Guadalupe, Nataban, Codcod and Buluangan,
marched in the streets of the city proper carrying placards and tarpaulins denouncing the CPP-NPA and expressing their desire for a peaceful and NPA-free community.

In February this year, a total of 229 former supporters of the CPP-NPA from insurgency-affected barangays in the cities of Sagay, Escalante, Cadiz, Victorias and San Carlos and the municipalities of Manapla and E.B. Magalona took their oath of allegiance to the government.

On March 2, there were 25 members of the CPP-NPA who surrendered with firearms and on March 31, a total of 27 former rebel militias and mass supporters from Barangay Paitan, Escalante City also yielded to government authorities.

Logan said the mass surrenders were the result of their strategized localized peace initiatives in collaboration with the Philippine National Police, City of San Carlos, and other government agencies.

“Our collaboration successfully reached the families and immediate communities of the members of the CPP-NPA to make sure that the purpose of our initiatives will be understood by these individuals,” he said.

The CPP-NPA is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1066939

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