NPA remnants in Bukidnon, Lanao Sur 'always on the run'

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 10, 2022): NPA remnants in Bukidnon, Lanao Sur 'always on the run' (By Nef Luczon)

The remaining New People's Army (NPA) fighters between the boundaries of Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur provinces are “always on the run” amid the military's sustained raids on rebel hideouts.

The focused operations against NPA remnants in both provinces have triggered a series of surrenders recently, said Brig. Gen. Ferdinand Barandon, commander of the Army's 403rd Brigade (403Bde).

“Recent losses during encounters and our relentless peace and development efforts here in Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur made their situation very difficult and always on the run,” Barandon said in a statement Friday.

Barandon described the state of the NPA remnants in those areas as “exhausted” and “losing their morale.”

“Recent losses during encounters and our relentless peace and development efforts here in Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur made their situation very difficult and always on the run,” he said.

On June 6, at least 11 NPA rebels surrendered to the 1st Special Forces Battalion under the operational control of the Task Force Peacemaker of the 403Bde in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon.

Barandon said the surrenderers were remnants of the splinter group of an NPA unit under the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee (NCMRC).

The surrenderers turned over to the 1SFBn a handgun and six high-powered firearms.

Maj. Gen. Wilbur Mamawag, the Army's 4th Infantry Division commander, said recent developments of surrenders and “continuous rejection of the civilian populace” are crucial in the eventual collapse of the NPA's NCMRC.

Seven of NCMRC's guerrilla fronts have already been dismantled, Mamawag said, while remnants of its “vertical forces are weakened.”

“Their futile attempt to recover their previous influenced areas has been a complete failure as the communities continue to work hand in hand with the government forces to fight terrorism,” Mamawag said.

He also assured surrenderers will be taken care of under the government's Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program.

The Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The Anti-Terrorism Council has also formally designated the National Democratic Front as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176362