NPA vows massive offensives vs gov't troops
Army: Rebel strength declining
Forty years of “revolutionary struggle” and they are just warming up. Or so it seemed for the remaining New People’s Army (NPA) on Panay Island.
The NPA is the armed wing of the now troubled Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Albeit no longer a serious threat to over-all peace and order of the country and tagged as communist-terrorists, certain areas on Panay Island remain as NPA havens.
Now on its 40th year of existence, the NPA in a statement sent to The News Today (TNT) declared that they are stronger than ever. The “red fighters” are also reportedly resolved to annihilate the government’s Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and its major anti-insurgency program.
In fact, for the NPA, the AFP is on its “dying years…” as it boasted of having defeated the Philippine Army’s (PA) Oplan Bantay Laya 2.
“The NPA has defeated not only Oplan Bantay Laya, but also 40 years of enemy campaigns to destroy the revolutionary movement. The PC and “commando” of the 70s here in Panay up to the Division Reconnaissance Company and Scout Rangers of the present have all failed to break the unwavering unity of the masses and the NPA. This is because the NPA wages a just people’s war as true servants of the masses while the AFP serves the oppressors and enemies of the people. Thus, the AFP can only resort to worn-out tactics that have been defeated time and again by the revolutionary fighters of the masses,” the group said. The statement was signed by a “Julian Paisano, Spokesperson, Coronacion “Waling-waling” Chiva Command NPA – Panay.”
The “increasing” NPAs in Panay are purportedly “new force in second and third generations of red fighters.”
“...regular guerilla forces have more than doubled in number and the local militia has grown to two battalions. It has launched 66 tactical offensives wherein 40 military and para-military troops were killed and 46 firearms of varied calibers were confiscated,” the “victory-report” continued.
“The NPA in Panay is sufficiently capable of marching with the whole revolutionary movement in advancing to the next higher level of the people’s war. This year, we will move forward to achieve the requisites for strengthening company-sized fronts, expand and consolidate the mass organizations, increase the strength and capacity of thepeople’s army and launch more tactical offensives. In its dying years, the AFP’s plan Bantay Laya 2 will receive its death blow in the whole country as well as here in Panay,” it ended.
But the Philippine Army has dismissed the rebel claims and reported the continued decline of rebel strength because of continued counter-insurgency operations.
“Their forces are dwindling everyday and they are only capable of hitting soft targets like the bombing of cell sites,” said Col Gerardo Layug, commander of the Army's 301st Infantry Brigade, in an earlier interview.
Layug placed the NPA strength on the island from 120 to 150 rebels.
The Army's 3rd Infantry Division said the destruction of cell sites and other properties of companies who refused to pay the rebels' “revolutionary taxes” are “simple acts of terrorism by the communist rebels.”
The military has estimated that around P100 million worth of property has been damaged or destroyed by rebels in four Panay provinces since last year.
“Not only are private firms badly affected by the arson activities of the rebels, but the ordinary people as well,” the 3ID said in a statement. The 3ID covers the islands of Panay, Negros, Bohol and Cebu and commands around 5,000 troops.
Layug said the NPA strength in Panay has been reduced by the surrender of its members who could not endure the difficulties in the mountains.
The Army has recently granted livelihood assistance to around 23 former rebels who have availed of the government's Social Integration Program.
But the NPA said most of those presented as surrenderes were the same ones presented repeatedly by the military.
The Army will shift the focus of its counter-insurgency campaign to Panay Island in the second half of the year, said Layug.
The 3ID is currently focusing its forces and efforts on Negros Island especially in the northern part of the island where NPA have stepped up operations in recent months.
“We expect to clear Negros by the first half of this year so we will shift our focus to Panay Island,” said Layug.
He said troops will concentrate its operations in the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz and Antique from the second half of this year and until 2010.
Additional troops numbering to at least a battalion (around 500 soldiers) are expected to be deployed to the island in the middle of the year. (With reports from Nestor Burgos Jr.)