Townsfolk seek army help as rebels sow terror in villages
Massive recruitment for communist cadres alongside non-stop harassments in at least three villages in Janiuay, Iloilo was reported yesterday to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) here.
As such, immediate deployment of army soldiers will be made if only to secure the area with the AFP hierarchy in Western Visayas enjoining community support anew.
Also brought to the public's attention, residents made the appeal in at least two radio stations with similar call for help and government intervention.
Captain Lowen Gil Marquez, commanding officer of the AFP's 3rd Civil Relations Group confirmed the harassments as he assured of AFP action.
The culprits, Captain Marquez added, are communist rebels New People's Army (NPA), armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). With the cessation of hostilities called by the AFP and renewed calls for said holiday truce, Captain Marquez decried the latest setback, no thanks he stressed, to communist NPAs.
A certain "Capalla" was tagged by the AFP as the one most active in the area with targets that included even those who have just surrendered to the folds of law.
The AFP has since offered a fresh start to NPA surrenderees with a start-up capital and training programs.
"They are desperate," Captain Marquez said. "They want to recruit minors, women and those who have already given up the futile fight."
It was not immediately clear how many units of the army will be sent to secure Janiuay area and nearby Iloilo towns threatened with NPA presence.
Earlier, CPP dismissed as "gibberish" Malacañang's declaration of a 22-day ceasefire this Christmas season.
CPP spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal called it "hypocritical talk belied by the fascist acts of one whose hands are dripping with the blood of hundreds of thousands of victims of state terrorism and military abuses."
Rosal said "The hypocrisy and treachery of Arroyo's ceasefire is underscored by her declaration the very next day of support for the revival of the Anti-Subversion Law as part of her plan to intensify fascism and cling to power beyond 2010."
He added that the Arroyo regime's ceasefire declarations never really had any reality or value. "Since the beginning, the Arroyo regime's so-called Christmas ceasefires have only served to camouflage the regime and its armed force's treachery as the AFP continues to justify and pursue military operations against the New People's Army and abuse suspected rebel bases."