Kalinaw News: Labor leaders’ admission of NPA membership is Labor Day highlight

Posted to Kalinaw News (May 1, 2020): Labor leaders’ admission of NPA membership is Labor Day highlight (By 2nd Infantry Division)



CAMP CAPINPIN, Tanay, Rizal – Sixteen labor leaders surrendered to joint AFP and PNP forces after admitting NPA membership during a ceremony at Calamba, Laguna on Friday.

According to the surrenders, all of them are labor union members of Coca-Cola plant in Sta Rosa, Laguna who were recruited to join the underground movement to destabilise the industrial sector which is known to the NPA’s as white area operations.

Col Alex Rillera, Commander of the 202nd Brigade which has operational
jurisdiction over CALABARZON’s industrial areas, said that “four of them were already full time communist party members while the rest are still ‘kandidatong kasapi’ which means they are just a few courses away from full time membership.”

He added that four of the surrenders turned over four firearms and admitted to have already experienced joining the NPAs in the mountains and participating in the terrorist group’s operations.

“This surrender supports the AFP and the PNP’s earlier assessment that the NPA terrorists are infiltrating the industrial areas through the labor unions to force the companies to shut their operations down so that innocent employees will be agitated to go against the government”, explained Col Rillera.

He ended his statement by “condemning in the strongest sense such evil acts of the CPP, NPA and NDF who pursue their terroristic intentions of overthrowing the government even at the expense of our countrymen whose welfare they purportedly look after.”

Combined elements of police and soldiers took the lead during the local peace negotiations which was held under the auspices of CALABARZON’s Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

Major General Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr, Commander of the Philippine Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, lauded the “soldiers, policemen and government officials who were involved in the localised peace engagement for their commitment and dedication to their duties while fighting in two fronts” referring to communist insurgency and the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also commended the labor leaders’ act of surrender and admission of NPA membership calling it “the best sacrifice that they could do for the country’s millions of members of the labor force as we commemorate this year’s Labor Day since it will lead to them being aware of the deception and manipulation which the underground movement is doing upon their ranks.”

He added that the surrender of labor organizers in this mass exodus of NPA terrorists from the underground movement is a decisive blow since aside from losing leaders, their surrender meant fewer cadres who will oversee their supply line from the urban centers to the hinterlands.

Maj Gen Burgos ended his statement by calling on the few remaining NPA terrorists to “put down your arms, give up your armed struggle and return to mainstream society while you still can because despite this contagion, we are mustering all our strength and focusing our sights to the liberation of Southern Tagalog from the clutches of communist terrorism by crushing the few remaining NPAs in this part of the country.”

Military’s intelligence assessments indicate that the NPA’s mass base support in this part of the country is now fast-eroding and losing traction due to demoralization from massive intelligence-driven combat operations which is complemented by unrelenting push for localized peace talks that resulted to unprecedented number of surrenders.

Since the implementation of E-CLIP in Southern Tagalog, 509 former rebels already surrendered 108 firearms to government forces.

A considerable portion of this surrenders were presented during the NPA’s 50th anniversary last year as well as during their 51st anniversary last March 29.

As of this report, CALABARZON region and MIMARO provinces have already distributed a total of Php 10.478 million-worth of financial assistance to former rebels.

[Kalinaw News is the official online source of information on the pursuit for peace in the Philippines This website is a property of the Civil-Military Operations Regiment, Philippine Army located at Lawton Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. Contact us: kalinawnews@cmoregiment.com]

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