Army vows to block NPA recovery efforts, mass buildup in NegOr

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 8, 2022): Army vows to block NPA recovery efforts, mass buildup in NegOr (By Mary Judaline Partlow)

Lt. Col. Roderick R. Salayo, commanding officer of the 11th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, based in Negros Oriental. (PNA photo by Judy Flores Partlow)

A key official of the Philippine Army in Negros Oriental on Friday vowed to continue relentless combat and non-combat operations to prevent the defunk South East Front (SEF) of the New People’s Army (NPA) from succeeding in its recovery efforts after it was dismantled last year.

Lt. Col. Roderick R. Salayo, commanding officer of the 11th Infantry Battalion based in Siaton, Negros Oriental, told the Philippine News Agency that the seven “remnants” of the dismantled guerilla front will not stop until they can recover their foothold in areas they once “controlled”.

Salayo’s statement came following a 20-minute gunfight on Wednesday (April 6) between his troops and the seven SEF-NPA members at Sitio Igang, Barangay Nagbinlod in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental.

No one was injured in that encounter but the suspected rebels fled, leaving behind a gun, personal belongings, and subversive documents.

“The skirmishes in Barangay Nagbinlod, Sta. Catalina is part of our mandate to neutralize the remnants of the South East Front and the combat operation was supported by intelligence that got a break from civilians who provided information on the presence of CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army) in the area,” Salayo said in mixed English and Filipino. "We will continue going after these remnants."

On non-combat operations, joint efforts of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), government agencies, the provincial and local government units and their task forces to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) continue to give “high-impact” projects to these areas.

Salayo cited an all-weather road project in Sitio Omol and Sitio Avocado that connects to Tamlang Valley in Barangay Talalak that will provide better access to residents and for their farm produce to be transported to the town proper.

Tamlang Valley was once a haven for CPP-NPA “rebels” and tagged by police and military as a “no man’s land” in the late 80s to the early 90s.

The provincial government is also building a community primary hospital in the Tamlang Valley as part of the joint efforts to end the insurgency under the whole-of-nation approach of President Rodrigo Duterte, the Army official said.

Asked why the SEF-NPA remnants are still in the area, Salayo said they do not want to leave or join other guerilla fronts as they are what the NPA call “territorial forces” and most members are “local”.

They are being led by a leader sent by the NPA’s central committee to help re-organize their stronghold through recruitment in the hinterlands, where poverty and other social issues are prevalent and are exploited by them, Salayo said.

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.

The National Democratic Front has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171797