CONCERT FOR PEACE. A band from the Phil. Army’s 4th Infantry Division renders a song during the peace concert organized by the Army and Philippine National Police at the Kiosko sa Kagawasan (freedom kiosk) in Divisoria, Cagayan de Oro City on Thursday (Dec. 26, 2019). The concert was aimed at countering whatever activity the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has planned on its 51st anniversary on Thursday. (Photo by Jigger J. Jerusalem)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Police and Army musicians staged a concert at the Kiosko sa Kagawasan (freedom kiosk) here purposely to counter the activities the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) might hold in time for its 51st anniversary Thursday.
Maj. Evan Viñas, the city police spokesperson, said the event was organized as a response to whatever the CPP is planning during its founding anniversary. “We received reports that [New People’s Army (NPA)] has planned an event for the CPP’s anniversary. The concert was our way of countering it,” he said.
The NPA is the armed wing of the CPP and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
On Dec. 23, both the government and the NDFP, with the CPP and NPA, have respectively declared a unilateral and reciprocal ceasefire from Dec. 23 to Jan. 7, 2020.
The concert was attended by personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Philippine Army, as well as some indigenous peoples from Bukidnon.
Viñas said the event was to show to the people that the country’s security forces do not advocate conflict but peace.
Meanwhile, Viñas said the PNP has been on full alert status even before the CPP’s anniversary.
On orders of the police regional office, he said they have put up additional checkpoints around the city amid two instances of attacks carried out by Communist rebels in Camarines Norte and Iloilo provinces on Dec. 23.
“We are fortifying our defenses,” Viñas said of the security measures the police have installed during the holidays.
Viñas said the PNP is also holding “camp defense drills” and bomb simulation exercises to test the capabilities of the police in times of attacks from enemy forces.
He added that the last quarter of this year is devoted to conducting those activities aimed at determining the level of preparedness of law enforcers and enhancing their response abilities.
But based on the intelligence report they have received on the ground, Viñas said there has not been any sighting of Communist insurgents in the city’s hinterland villages, although he added the police are not taking any chances.
“We have been coordinating with the Philippine Army, especially the Task Force Oro and the Army detachments in the rural barangays,” he added.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1089554
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