3ID cites achievements in fight vs NPAs
Nothing but “imagined victories.”
This was how the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) tagged the feat of the New Peoples’ Army (NPA) in Panay and Negros islands, as the latter celebrate their 41st year of existence yesterday, March 29.
In claiming this, 3ID revealed how the Army’s internal security operations in the area have succeeded against the NPA in the past year.
According to 3ID public information officer 1Lt. Mark Andrew Posadas, military records showed that 3ID conducted a total of 20,155 ground operations including three division-directed, 17 brigade-initiated, 81 battalion-initiated and 167 company-size combat operations and 19,887 small unit patrols.
These, he added, resulted to 49 combat engagements against the NPA rebels in both Panay and Negros islands.
Further, 232 rebels were also neutralized that led to the recovery of 59 high-powered and low-powered firearms and the seizure of 50 enemy encampments, the largest of which belonged to the Southern Front Committee of the NPA in Tigbanaba, Igbaras, Iloilo.
“Our continuous operations and the dedication of our soldiers to their respective missions resulted to a 38% decrease in Communist Terrorist strength in Negros and Panay islands from a high of 613 in January 2009 to 381 as of today,” he said adding, “of these 232 communist terrorist members neutralized, 3 high ranking communist movement personalities.”
They were identified as Nilda Bertulano, secretary of Larangan Gerilya 1, KR-Negros; Cirila Estrada, secretary of Southern Front, KR-Panay; and, Arturo Moleta, secretary of South Western Front, KR-Negros.
“The decrease in their number is based on surrenders, arrests, and captures during the conduct of our internal security operations in these islands,” Posadas said.
The majority of the neutralized rebels laid down their arms to avail of the government’s Social Integration Program (SIP).
Consequentially, 104 former rebels have been processed and awarded by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) since January of last year while some are still on process. The remaining were arrested, captured, or killed in encounters with our soldiers.
With the said accomplishments, “the NPA hastily claim responsibility for criminal acts to show that they are still a force to reckon with. The incident in Maricalum in Negros was manufactured and spun by their propagandist to show their higher leadership in the CPP that they are not inutile. A similar incident with the NPA in Tapaz, Capiz occurred earlier this week where they claimed responsibility for an attack on a military detachment,” Posadas pointed out.
He added that the prevailing situation in the islands portray that the NPA is disorganized, weak, inutile, and incapable of launching large scale tactical offensives against our soldiers and policemen.
“This is evidenced by the number of former members of the communist movement abandoning ship and siding with the government through the SIP,” the 3ID spokesman said.
Further, “this is also shown by the number of decisive engagements launched by your Army against the NPA wherein our soldiers overwhelm them despite having the advantage of terrain. Their failure to recruit new members is also an indicator that their cause has lost its appeal to the youth and the peasants. More and more people in our islands recognize the deception of the CPP-NPA even before it enters their community,” he added.
Posadas further stated that deluded members of the NPA in Panay and Negros still cling to an ideal that has been proven in history to be flawed.
“That is why, they are celebrating imagined victories today against our government. We continue to call on the more enlightened members rebels to wake up to the reality that communist armed struggle is not the right and just path to peace,” Posadas said in conclusion.
