LEAVING THE REBELLION. Resylin Pardo, a former officer of the communist New People's Army in Bukidnon, speaks at a press conference in Valencia City on Thursday, January 16, days after she and six others surrendered to local authorities. Pardo says the government should provide hinterland villages with more access to basic services to keep locals away from rebel influence. (Photo courtesy of 403rd Bde, 4ID)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Infiltrating the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) communities had been one of the key factors why the communist New People’s Army (NPA) enjoyed relatively strong support in the hinterlands, a former communist rebel officer who surrendered early this year said.
Resylin Pardo, a former secretary and political officer of the NPA's Guerilla Front Committee 6 (GFC-6), said that in Bukidnon province alone, the communist rebels managed to manipulate various IP communities to act as its "mass base."
Lack of access to basic government services was among the primary reasons why the NPA managed to sway IP communities to work for them, Pardo said.
"But during the time of President (Rodrigo) Duterte, there are now roads that reached far-flung villages, and basic services, health centers, are already present," Pardo said during a press conference in Valencia City last Thursday.
Pardo, her live-in partner, and five other rebels surrendered to local officials in Valencia City on January 6 this year.
Pardo's live-in partner, Renante Tumbalang, 37, was the former commander of GFC-6, which operates in Valencia City and six adjoining towns in Bukidnon.
Tumbalang bared that the loss of their mass base and the military’s nonstop offensive operations had trapped them in their mountain lairs.
Pardo said losing the community’s support meant that they no longer can count on the hinterland villages for vital logistics and supplies.
“We were running out of stocks. Our food supplies and other necessities were running very low because villagers won’t help us facilitate the freights anymore. We even gave them money to help us buy our provisions in bulk but they refused. These difficulties and various obstacles forced us to give up and decide to leave the communist movement,” she said.
In their desperation, Tumbalang said they decided to return to the fold of the law after working for the NPA for 16 years.
“We are all set for a peaceful life with our families from this day on,” he said.
Authorities identified the other five surrenderers as squad leader Shairyl Pardo, platoon leaders Roger Gonzales and Regine Pardo, vice commanding officer Angelito Tundag, and platoon officer Mark Jason Pardo.
Brig. Gen. Edgardo de Leon, commander of the Army's 403rd Brigade, said the surrender of the five GFC-6 officers was "a very significant breakthrough" for the Task Force End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC).
Following their surrender, de Leon said the military was able to dismantle the NPA's "shadow government" in Bukidnon.
“Guerrilla Front 6 in Bukidnon is on the brink of collapse. The guerilla fronts that Joma (Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison) used to brag about are actually shrinking," de Leon said.
Meanwhile, de Leon acknowledged the importance of the surrenderers' "vast knowledge" about the source of NPA's strengths in the hinterlands, saying local officials and government agencies should address them properly.
There are "socio-political-economic issues that need to be addressed by local government units and regional line agencies, so the communities cleared by the Community Support Program (CSP) teams will be conflict-resilient; its people’s recovered trust and confidence in the government is sustained, and their decision to reject the NPA will not change,” de Leon said.
Maj. Gen. Franco Nemesio Gacal, the Army's 4th Infantry Division commander, commended the 403rd Brigade and its units, including the local governments in Bukidnon, for "winning the peaceful war."
"Our war is not focused on winning battles through the barrel of guns. Ours is a peaceful war involving communities in conflict-affected areas,” Gacal said.
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