Village residents condemn CPP-NPA’s deception activities in Ilocos Sur

From the Philippine Information Agency (Sep 19, 2020): Village residents condemn CPP-NPA’s deception activities in Ilocos Sur (By Freddie G. Lazaro) 

SUYO, Ilocos Sur, Sept. 19 (PIA) - - Residents in an outskirt village of this town have condemned the deception activities of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) terrorists in Ilocos Sur.

In the joint meeting of the Regional Peace and Order Council – Regional Development Council (RPOC-RDC) meeting on Thursday, army’s 702nd Infantry Brigade Commander Brigadier General Audrey L. Pasia said that at least 240 residents and local officials in Suyo town have successfully conducted an indignation rally on Wednesday.

The local officials and residents assembled infront of the town’s public market before they started a motorcade rally going to Sitio Kimpatubbog, Barangay Poblacion, Suyo, Ilocos Sur.

The main activities of the rally were held in Sitio Kimpatubbog, the area where the operating troops of the army’s 81st Infantry Battalion foiled a reported plan of the CPP-NPA terrorists to set an encampment in the place after an encounter on July 26, 2020. No one was hurt during the firefight.

According to Pasia, 24 members of the underground movement organization (UGMO) of the CPP-NPA bandits in the area have left their support to the communist-terrorist movement.

“I’m calling all the UGMO members and NPA members to return now to the fold of the government. No other individual will love and takes care of the Philippines but the Filipinos; and no one could help the Filipinos but the fellow Filipinos,” said Pasia.

Suyo town Mayor Mario Subagan administered the oath of allegiance of the 24 UGMO members to the government.

In a phone interview, Mayor Subagan said that all villages in his town are continuously under close watch by the authorities to deter any infiltration activities of the communist terrorists.

“We cannot afford that the CPP-NPA terrorists will influence the residents of our peaceful and productive town,” said Subagan, a retired police colonel.

Mayor Subagan said that they conducted the rally as their mode of expressing their united stand not to support the terrorist group as well as its allied organizations.

Subagan led the local officials and the residents in burning the effigies of Jose Maria Sison, the NPA flags and the faces of the NPA leaders of the Komiteng Larangang Guerilya – Southern Ilocos Sur (KLG-SIS) operating in Ilocos Sur.

The bursting of red balloons and the releasing of white doves were held as their expression of resistance on the presence of the CPP-NPA terrorists in the town but are united in achieving peace and development in the area.

During the program, a former rebel (FR) talked about the ill-effect of supporting the communists.

Army Lieutenant Colonel Rodrigo A. Mariñas Jr., the commander of the army’s 81st Infantry Battalion cited the efforts of the members of the Suyo Municipal Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (MTF-ELCAC) including the residents for complimenting the efforts of the government against the CPP-NPA bandits. (JCR/FGL, PIA 1)

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1053619