9K Visayas LGUs declare CPP-NPA 'persona non grata'

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 26, 2023): 9K Visayas LGUs declare CPP-NPA 'persona non grata' (By John Rey Saavedra)

PERSONA NON GRATA. Visayas Command chief Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo meets with unit commanders during the Military Operations Coordinating Conference at the headquarters in Camp Lapu-Lapu in Cebu City on Sunday (June 26, 2023). Arevalo said a total of 8,895 LGUs in the Visayas declared CPP-NPA persona non grata. (Photo courtesy of Viscom PIO)

CEBU CITY – The Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) sustained community engagement in the Visayas has gained grounds, with close to 9,000 local government units declaring the Communist Party of the Philippines- New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) “persona non grata," an Army official said on Monday.

“These denouncements and mass declaration in the Visayas region is a clear manifestation that our people are already fed up with the deception, treachery, and cruelty of the CPP-NPA. This will serve as a motivation for us to boost our efforts to push the CPP-NPA on the brink of irreversible collapse,” Visayas Command commander, Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, said in a statement.

He said the communist armed struggle in the Visayas has been fast becoming irrelevant after a total of 8,895 LGUs condemned CPP-NPA atrocities in the Visayas -- 13 are provinces, 364 are municipalities and the rest are barangays.

The figure was revealed during the Viscom’s Military Operations Coordinating Conference in Camp Lapu-Lapu here.

With the declaration, party leaders, NPA fighters, and their supporters are not welcome or prohibited to enter the jurisdiction of these LGUs.

The continuous increase of localities that denounced and declared the CPP-NPA as persona non grata has been attributed to the sustained community engagement and continued implementation of the Barangay Development Program.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1204304