Rebel ranks dwindle from desertions

From the Manila Times (Mar 4): Rebel ranks dwindle from desertions

THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claimed that the membership of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) has further dwindled because of losing mass base support and the successful implementation of the government’s new anti-insurgency strategy.

Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., Armed Forces spokesman, on Monday said that the number of rebels that returned to the government fold in 2012 rose to 367 from 235 recorded in 2011, or a 56-percent increase, while posting a 63-percent increase in the number of neutralized rebels in 2012.

Burgos added that reports from various military field units also showed that the number of rebel-initiated violent incidents dropped by 21 percent from 473 in 2011 to 374 in 2012.

“This shows the continuing decline of NPA-initiated violent incidents [NIVIs] during the implementation of the IPSP [Internal Peace and Security Plan] Bayanihan,” he pointed out. “Before it was launched in 2011, the AFP recorded 501 NIVIs in 2010.”

But the Army has no updated record on the actual numbers of Maoist rebels nor information on the number of new recruits.

The military had earlier claimed that from a peak of 24,430 revolutionary fighters in mid 1980s, the underground group’s strength has dwindled to 4,043 because of battle losses and surrenders.

But it was disputed by the Communist Party of the Philippines, saying that the rebels’ revolutionary forces were steadily growing in strength and poised for big leap in the coming years.

The IPSP-Bayanihan is the Armed Forces’ new anti-insurgency campaign strategy that was started in 2010 when President Benigno Aquino 3rd assumed the country’s top post.

Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, military chief of staff, spearheaded the crafting of the IPSP-Bayanihan in 2010, while he was the Army’s deputy of staff for operations or J3 in 2010.

During his assumption as Armed Forces chief in January, Bautista vowed to bring down the insurgency problem to a negligible level before the end of his tour of duty, or before the Aquino administration bows out on 2016.

“That is our goal for the NPA to be irrelevant, for the armed struggle to be ended, to render the armed struggle irrelevant,” he said. “By the end of my term, substantially, I’ m not saying zero, it can never approach zero.”

He pointed out that the timeframe of Bayanihan is up to 2016 but stressed that by this year there must be substantial accomplishments on its target achievements.

“While we support the initiatives of the government to talk peace with the communist group in pursuit of just and lasting peace for our country, the Armed Forces of the Philippines will continue to sustain its gains from the IPSP-Bayanihan in our operations against the violent armed rebels through focused and intelligence-based security operations.

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/nation/42673-rebel-ranks-dwindle-from-desertions