Remaining terrorists should surrender after leaders' deaths

From the Philippine News Agency (Oct 2, 2021): Remaining terrorists should surrender after leaders' deaths (By Priam Nepomuceno)

Department of National Defense Undersecretary Reynaldo B. Mapagu (File photo)

Following the deaths of ranking leaders of terror groups last week, Task Force Balik Loob chair Reynaldo B. Mapagu on Tuesday called on the remaining members of these groups to immediately surrender and avail of the government's reintegration assistance.

The appeal came after the deaths of Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos of the New People's Army (NPA) and Salahuddin Hassan of Dawlah Islamiyah (DI) in separate military operations in Mindanao last week.

"The deaths of NPA leader Jorge 'Ka Oris' Madlos and the so-called 'emir' of DI, Salahuddin Hassan, point to the diminishing capability of these terror groups, especially in Mindanao. As these groups lose their key officers, we fully expect their terror operations to fall apart," said Mapagu, who is also Department of National Defense (DND) undersecretary.

He added that the remaining active members of the terrorist groups should take the present opportunity to surrender, lest they also suffer the same fate in encounters with the military and police.

"This is the most opportune time for our brothers and sisters to desert the life of violence they were indoctrinated into by these insurgents. While the promises of these terror groups to their members amount to nothing, our reintegration assistance and benefits for former rebels and former violent extremists are real and tangible," Mapagu said.

He also urged these individuals not to waste their lives and used the opportunity to surrender and reintegrate to live peacefully with their families and loved ones.

Madlos was killed along with an NPA medic, Eighfel Dela Pena (alias Pika/Maui), in Sitio Gabunan, Barangay Dumalaguing, Impasugong town, Bukidnon in an encounter with combined troops from the 8th and 88th Infantry Battalions and 1st Special Forces Battalion last Oct. 30.

Reports said there were anti-personnel mines in the area, prompting soldiers to call for air support. Government troops engaged around 30 communist terrorists in the firefight.

Madlos is the spokesperson of the National Operations Command (NOC) of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA (CPP-NPA) Komiteng Mindanao and National Democratic Front (NDF)-Mindanao.

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

On the other hand, the NDF has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and separate part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973.

Meanwhile, Hassan and his wife were killed in remote Barangay Damablac, Talayan town by troops of the 6th Infantry Division last Oct. 29.

Hassan who has aliases of "Orak," "Salah," "Tulea," and "Abu Salman" was the emir of the DI terror group operating in south-central Mindanao. He had a PHP1.3-million bounty on his head.

The Anti-Terrorism Council has named Hassan as among the top terrorists operating in Mindanao.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1158482