Bulacan steps up efforts to counter Reds’ recruitment efforts

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 8, 2019): Bulacan steps up efforts to counter Reds’ recruitment efforts



MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan -- In support of the nation's continuing fight against the communist insurgency, police and local government officials in Bulacan are adopting a multi-stakeholder approach that targets vulnerable sectors of the community.

Having identified state colleges and universities as hotbeds for communist recruitment, the Bulacan Police Provincial Office and the provincial government of Bulacan gathered students, youth leaders, policemen and local government employees in a forum here to educate them on the methods used by the Communist Party of the Philippines- New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) to bring new members to its fold.

“Ilagay ninyo sa inyong pag-iisip ang mga pangarap n’yo, na maayos ang inyong buhay, dahil iyon lang ang magiging ugat din ng pag-unlad ng buhay n’yo -- yung malayo kayo sa temptation na inaakit kayo ng kabila (Always think of your dreams, that your life will be better, because that will be the root of your progress -- to be spared of the temptation that the leftists are dangling in front of you),” Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process spokesperson Wilben Mayor told the student-participants during the event.
Mayor said students are among the Reds' primary targets of recruitment, especially the brilliant ones.

“You will be encouraged to join seemingly legitimate endeavors, but sooner or later, you will realize that those endeavors are supported by the CPP-NPA,” he said.



Meanwhile, Col. Chito G. Bersaluna, Bulacan Police Provincial Office director, called on partner agencies to step up their respective efforts to help address the decades-long communist insurgency.

“We need to create communities that are conflict-resilient, and we need the constant cooperation of local and national government agencies to attain peace,” Bersaluna said.

“Ang ‘whole-of-nation approach’ ay ipinatupad sa bisa ng Executive Order No. 70. Para sa mabisang pagpapatupad ng whole-of-nation approach, itinalaga ang mga kalihim ng gabinete bilang mga Cabinet Officers for Regional Development and Security, o CORDS. (The ‘whole-of-nation approach’ was implemented by virtue of Executive Order No. 70. For the effective implementation of the ‘whole-of-nation approach,’ Cabinet members were appointed as Cabinet Officers for Regional Development and Security, or CORDS),” Mayor added, speaking on behalf of Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito G. Galvez, Jr.

Galvez was appointed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as the CORDS for Region 3. Among his major responsibilities is to facilitate the immediate resolution of issues that trigger armed conflict in communities.

“If left unresolved, these concerns are easily exploited by the CPP-NPA-NDF, and used as ammunition in blaming the government for its supposed inaction,” Mayor said.

Also present during the event were Col. Rhoderick Armamento, Deputy Regional Director for Operations, PNP Region 3; Lt. Col. Felix Emeterio Valdez, commanding officer of the 48th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army; Gen. Abraham Casis (Ret.), CPP-NPA-NDF Panel Secretariat adviser; Atty. Cris Roque, representative of Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando and Col. Dominic Bedia, chief of Plans and Program Division and Col. Jerich Royales, chief of Information Operations Research Center from the PNP Directorate for Police Community Relations.

Persona non grata

The Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) III recently declared the CPP-NPA as ‘persona non grata’ in Central Luzon.

“Ang persona non grata ay ginagawa po natin para ipaabot sa kanilang grupo (CPP-NPA) na ang kanilang mga ginagawa ay hindi katanggap-tanggap sa lahat ng tao sa rehiyon (Declaring the CPP-NPA as persona non grata is meant to inform them that their actions are unacceptable to all persons living in the region),” Galvez said during the meeting of RTF-ELCAC III in Pampanga last July.

Bulacan is a strategic area for the CPP-NPA because it is a transit point to Metro Manila, Mayor said.

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

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1077341