Wednesday, July 1, 2020

NPA on brink of collapse: former rebel leaders

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 1, 2020): NPA on brink of collapse: former rebel leaders (By Jason De Asis)



BACK TO THE FOLD OF THE LAW. Three ranking leaders of the New People's Army surrender their firearms to the Army’s 91st Infantry Battalion (91IB) and Philippine National Police (PNP) in a secluded area of Sitio Balitwak, Barangay San Isidro, San Luis, Aurora on Saturday, June 27, 2020. Also in photo is Lt. Col. Reandrew Rubio, commander of 91st Infantry (Sinagtala) Battalion. (Photo courtesy of the Army's 9th Infantry Battalion)

Three ranking leaders of the New People’s Army (NPA) who have returned to the fold of the law have admitted that the communist organization is on the brink of collapse.

The three, who belonged to the Komiteng Larangan Gerilya Sierra Madre (KLG SM) operating in the province, surrendered and yielded their high-powered firearms to the Army’s 91st Infantry Battalion (91IB) and Philippine National Police (PNP) from Aurora and Nueva Ecija in a secluded area in Sitio Balitwak, Barangay San Isidro, San Luis, Aurora last Saturday.

The rebel leaders surrendered two M16 5.56mm rifles and an M653 5.56mm rifle or Baby Armalite.

In an exclusive interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Monday, the ranking NPA surrenderers, who introduced themselves as alias "Ka Dingdong", "Ka Dong" and "Ka Junjun", said what remains of the NPA membership is already weak.

Ka Dingdong, a squad leader, and team leaders Ka Dong and Ka Junjun, said from the previous three platoons of KLG SM, there is now only one platoon under the leadership of its commanding officer Harold Miňosa and vice commanding officer Sudario Lee alias "Ka Aura".


They said the rebels are already dwindling in numbers as many have surrendered due to the hardships they are experiencing in the mountains.

“Sa totoo lang hindi na namin kaya ang paghihirap sa loob ng kilusan. Ito ang nararanasan ng hukbo, gutom at pagod, nararamdaman namin na wala ng patutunguhan ang ipinaglalaban namin. Nalinlang kami ng dati naming mga kasamahan. Lakad lang kami ng lakad, walang katapusan kaya kusang loob na kaming sumuko at nagbaba ng armas (The truth is we can no longer bear the hardships inside the movement. This is what the comrades are experiencing, hunger and fatigue. We feel that what we were fighting for nothing. We were fooled by our former comrades. We were just walking and walking and there is no ending. That is why, we decided to surrender and yield our firearms),” they said.

The surrenderers said they were NPA fighters since 2017 and had engaged in close fights with government troops five times in the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya and Aurora.

Col. Andrew Costelo, commander of the 703rd Infantry Brigade that directly supervises 91IB, commended the troops for their accomplishment and also for the help provided by the PNP in Nueva Ecija and Aurora provinces.

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Alfredo Rosario Jr., commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division (7ID), the mother unit of 91IB, said: “This is what we are working, to invite the NPA members to return to the folds of the law and be with their families, instead of fighting in combat and kill each other. This option is better, after all, we are all Filipinos.”

Rosario said the series of setbacks of the NPA bandits in Central Luzon from 2019 to date, ranging from the dissolution of their two main units, neutralization of their top ranking leaders, and the withdrawal of support by their exploited supporters, brought the NPA’s Central Luzon Regional Party Committee to the brink of collapse.

Last year, the 7ID dismantled the Komiteng Larangan Gerilya (KLG) Caraballo and Larangang Gerilya sa Patag 1 in its pursuit to end the local communist armed conflict in Central Luzon.

The Army command also
captured Redsa Balatan, alias “Sining”, the deputy secretary of Kilusang Larangan Gerilya (KLG) Sierra Madre during an armed encounter in November 2019.

Balatan was the former secretary of the defunct KLG Caraballo prior to the dismantling of said NPA unit.
It was followed by the death of Eleuterio Sadyaw Agmaliw alias “Omeng”, the leader of KLG Sierra Madre’s Domingo Erlano Command during a joint law enforcement operation with the PNP in Quezon City in December 2019.


Since 2019, a total of 1,006 exploited mass supporters who are farmers and members of the urban poor sectors, have withdrawn their support from the NPA, and 163 of them surrendered while six were killed during law enforcement operations.

Some 100 high-powered firearms and 33 low-powered firearms were either surrendered by former rebels, or recovered by operating troops during armed encounters.

“These series of hits that the NPA sustained, coupled with the sincere efforts of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC), which pooled the resources of national government agencies and local government units in addressing issues in NPA-influenced barangays, took its toll on the terrorist group’s clout, resources, and manpower,” Rosario said.

The three new NPA surrenderers appealed to their former comrades in the KLG SM to follow them in returning to the fold of the law and surrender their firearms while they are still young.

“Huwag po nating sayangin ang ating buhay. Our government is open for peace. Let us all end insurgency. Kailangan natin ng seryosong pagbabalik-loob sa gobyerno sa puso, isip, salita at gawa. Sumuko kayo habang bata para magkaroon ng magandang kinabukasan (Do not let our lives go to waste. Our government is open for peace. Let us all end insurgency. We must seriously return to the folds of law in heart, mind, word and deed. Surrender while you are still young to have good future),” they said.

The NPA surrenderers are now being assessed for the processing of their benefits from the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) of the government.

Under the E-CLIP program, they will receive a PHP15,000 initial assistance, PHP50,000 livelihood assistance and PHP50,000 firearms remuneration.

They will receive benefits from other government agencies, like skills training from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, legal assistance from the Department of Justice, housing from National Housing Authority, among others.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1107477

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