Army vows intensified offensives while CPP hierarchy rejoices 'solid victories'
The wrecked of the Elf truck carrying
Army soldiers that hit a land mine in Sto.
Simadbad, Brgy. Mambiranan, Calinog,
Iloilo last Saturday evening.
Iloilo -- In the wake of the ambush that killed nine soldiers and wounded several others over the weekend in Calinog town, the Army's 47th Infantry Battalion said it would conduct an even intensified operation against the New People's Army.
'That would serve as the fuse for a more intensified operation against the NPA,' Colonel Mariano Antonio Perez, commanding officer of the 47th IB based in Calinog, said over the radio yesterday, referring to Saturday's attack against returning troops with the use of command-detonated improvised landmines. 'The attack will not weaken us, although we grieve for the loss of our fellow soldiers. We have had good camaraderie.'
Those killed in the ambush were troops belonging to the 47th IB and the 1st Scout Ranger Company, who were part of a bigger group returning to base for a resupply for an ongoing combat operations against the Maoist rebels.
Meanwhile, in the midst of continued outpouring of support and condolences to the families of army casualties of the Calinog communist rebel attack, claim of 'solid victory' and congratulations were up for the Communist Party of the Philippines on the party's 'New People's Army (NPA) fighters.'
In a press release posted in a CPP website, the party's 'Information Bureau' directly addressed the Calinog incident and justified the use of the landmines that killed nine army soldiers and injured twenty others.
The 'enemy troopers,' the CPP news release tagged government operatives as it went on to claim that the NPA's successful tactical offensives has led to the 'piecemeal weakening of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.'
Perez, on the other hand, brushed aside speculations that the attack, the most deadly so far for this year, was brought about by failure of the military's intelligence.
Although he admitted that they had no prior information of the rebel's plan to plant landmines in the area, Perez stressed that they are continuously receiving information from their assets about rebel activities, and that there has been no let up in recruiting informants.
He said that the rebels were but lucky they were able to score 'by chance.' Planting landmines, he pointed out, doesn't entail great effort. 'It can be done in less than an hour.'
Perez also denied that the NPA enjoyed the support of the people, a factor being considered behind the successful offensive against the government troops.
'It was but to show to the people, that they (NPA) are still existing; and that it was to threaten civilians,' Perez said. 'The NPA is just getting desperate.'
CPP spokesperson Gregorio 'Ka Roger' Rosal, however, claimed the successful tactical offensives serve as eloquent testimony to the widespread support of the masses for the NPA and the revolutionary armed struggle.
And while the army vowed for intensified offensives the NPA rebels would not just stay behind. In his statement Rosal went on to call for yet more NPA tactical offensives, encouraging more units to make similar attacks 'and deal body and head blows against the illegitimate, corrupt, lying, brutal and intransigent Arroyo puppet regime.'
As for the landmine use criticized by the AFP as a clear violation of the International Rules of War, the CPP lashed back with a response that derided the government forces.
'Obviously, these AFP officials are completely ignorant of international conventions. What is prohibited is the use of victim-triggered landmines. There are no prohibitions against command-detonated landmines which the NPA uses as a precision and responsible weapon against military targets,' it continued.