Philippine Army calls (for) support vs. NPA’s extortion

From the Philippine Information Agency (Oct 10): Philippine Army calls (for) support vs. NPA’s extortion

The Philippine Army has called on public support against extortion activities of the rebel groups.

Deputy Commander Col. Orlando Edralin of the Philippine Army’s 301st Infantry Brigade, encouraged residents, including politicians, businessmen, construction companies and even ordinary citizens to report to the authorities the extortion activities of the New People’s Army (NPA).

“Your army is gearing towards eradicating extortion activities, hence, we call on the public to help us in this campaign,” Edralin said.

During the recent joint meeting of the Provincial Peace and Order Council and Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council presided by Governor Antonio Del Rosario, he said the extortion activities by the NPA in Panay island reached less than P5 million monthly.

He also said that with the upcoming elections, permit to campaign issued by the rebel group for the candidates in exchange for some money will again be rampant, thus the cooperation of the candidates to report the same to the authorities is very important to curb this practice.

On one hand, Edralin reported that for the third quarter this year alone, the Brigade had eight encounters in Panay despite the NPA’s atrocities.

“The success of our combat operations comes from the intensified offensive of the Army and Philippine National Police in order to stop NPA’s extortion and recruitment in the hinterland barangays,” he said.

He also vowed that the government troop will not let up its operations against the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA due to the atrocities the rebel group has brought in the island here.

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1013577