NPA bombs recovered in Southern Philippines

Army officials said troops have recovered dozens of landmines and various materials used in the manufacture of improvised explosives in the southern Philippines.
Officials linked the explosives to the communist rebel group New People’s Army in Loreto town in Agusan del Sur province. The cache of landmines was discovered by civilians in the village of Mansanitas, according to Capt. Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command.
Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, the Eastern Mindanao Command chief, praised the bravery of the civilians who informed the military about the explosives.
“We thank our people for their cooperation. Our soldiers are always ready to respond anywhere and whenever needed. If the NPA is sincere about peace, they must stop manufacturing landmines as these kill people and destroy properties,” Cruz said.
He said the discovery came a day after two NPA rebels - Robert Daging and Abet Guinson – surrendered to the 36th Infantry Battalion in Carmen town in the province of Surigao del Sur.
The duo also handed over two automatic rifles. The NPA has been fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. 

Article Source: Mindanao Examiner

China preparing to seize Pag-asa Island

The Chinese Navy has drawn up a detailed plan to seize this year the Philippines’ Pag-asa Island in a battle that will be restricted in the South China Sea, according to a Chinese news network.

A report of business and strategy news platform Qianzhan (Prospects) in Mandarin was translated by English news site China Daily Mail and titled “Chinese troops will seize Pag-asa Island, which is called by China Zhongye, back from the Philippines in 2014.”

The report said the Philippines is so arrogant as to announce in the New Year that it will increase its navy and air force deployment at Pag-asa Island which is part of the disputed Spratly Islands.

“According to experts, the Chinese Navy has drawn a detailed combat plan to seize the island and the battle will be restricted within the South China Sea. The battle is aimed at recovery of the island stolen by the Philippines from China,” the report said.

The Philippines’ arrogance, the report said, is an intolerable insult to China.

“There will be no invasion into Filipino territories,” the report said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) declined to comment on the report.

“We don’t comment on news articles that have unnamed and unofficial sources,” said DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez.

The Department of National Defense would have to validate the report about China’s supposed plan to seize Pag-asa Island, defense department spokesman Peter Galvez said.

Military officials declined to comment, saying the DFA is the agency authorized to speak on the matter.

China’s plan to invade Pag-asa Island could be part of Beijing’s 20-year expansion plan for its navy to have total dominance of the disputed Spratlys archipelago, security documents showed.

The document also showed that China’s plan was conceived 14 years ago following Beijing’s illegal occupation of Panganiban (Mishchief) Reef, some 130 nautical miles off Hulugan Bay in mainland Palawan and only 97 nautical miles east of Pag-asa Island.

“China has four to five years left to complete the plan,” an informed security official said, adding that it is already an open secret among Spratly claimant countries – the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan – that China has established a forward naval station at Panganiban Reef.

International defense analyst Greg Polling of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Southeast Asia Program, had warned two years ago that China has been rushing the construction of several warships specifically designed for its Spratlys naval operations.

Some of these warships that China has been building include hovercrafts capable of carrying one battalion of Marines and four tanks.

Several hovercraft units have already been completed and are just awaiting deployment after several sea trials.

China’s hovercraft project has reportedly solved the People Liberation Army’s problem of transporting warships directly into shallow waters surrounded by coral reefs, shoals and islets occupied by troops of other Spratly claimant countries.

Aside from Panganiban Reef, China has built another naval facility at Subi Reef where its transport ship has regularly been sighted. 

Article Source: The Philippine Star

3 NPA rebels surrender to military forces in Davao del Sur

Three New People’s Army fighters voluntarily surrendered to the 39th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in Bansalan, Davao del Sur Friday.

Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said the rebels also surrendered three high-powered firearms consisting of one M-14 automatic rifle and two M-16 rifles.

The surrenderees are all active members of the NPA’s Front 51, SMRC operating in the areas of Davao del Sur and Makilala, North Cotabato.

Zagala said that the three are now undergoing custodial debriefing at the 39th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Barangay Tuban, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.

He added that the surrendered rebels requested that the AFP withhold their identities for fear of retaliation by their former comrades in the NPA.

On the other hand, the military sees the surrender as an act of progress, knowing that not all members of the NPAs believe in their leaders’ hard-line stance on armed violence as means to achieve their goals.


"Their reasons for joining the communist movement might have been legitimate ones but after almost two decades of armed struggle, they have not realized that joining a group which causes only violence against our people isn't the answer," Zagala stressed.

Article Source: PNA

Army condemns NPA’s continued ruthless killings and violation of CARHRIHL

Camp Peralta, Jamindan, Capiz – The Philippine Army here in Western Visayas condemned the continued ruthless killings of the New People’s Army (NPA) and its violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

Last December 30, 2013, Demetrio Capilastique known as “Hugo” was shot to death in Brgy Linaywan, Badiangan, Iloilo by members of the SPARU unit of the NPA. Alias “Hugo” is a ranking leader of the NPA’s rival group Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) here in Panay Island.

Brigadier General Arnold Quiapo, 301st Brigade Commander said “This is an inhumane act of the NPA, against the law hence, cannot be justified. Any issue against Capilastique should be brought to the proper court and let him answer to our proper judicial system. While the CNN took responsibility for the killing, they should bring those culprits from within their ranks to the courts of law.”

A day following the killing, the CPP-NPA-NDFP (CNN) in an issued statement, took responsibility for the assassination of alias “Hugo”. Hugo was charged by the CPP-NPA of several crimes against the movement and the so called ‘NPA’s court system’, one of which is the crime of mutiny against the CPP-NPA in the Southern Front of Panay in 1994.

Meantime, it can be recalled that last January 25, 2013, a ranking leader of the RPA-ABB Joven Tababa was shot to death by the NPA in Tigbauan, Iloilo. The CNN also took responsibility and tried to justify the killing.

Tababa was with his 7-year old daughter when he was shot and succumbed to gunshots and eventually died on the spot; however his daughter managed to flee.

A day after the incident January 26, 2013 around 8 pm, a certain Gina Genilan Gestalao alias Neneng, 35 years old, wife of a former RPA-ABB member and a resident of Bulho, San Joaquin, Iloilo, was shot to death by the NPA hitting her right upper breast and left portion of her eye.

The NPA’s attack on non-combatants is clearly a violation of the CARHRIHL which the CPP/NPA/NDFP is a signatory.

UN questioned CPP/NPA/NDF’s “people’s courts”

In Page 14 of the Philip Alston report of the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions from 2004-2010, it stated that “the CPP/NPA/NDF’s system of “people’s courts” is either deeply flawed or simply a sham. The question whether the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) can be interpreted to affirm the CPP/NPA/NDF’s contention that it has a right to constitute courts and conduct trials is a matter of controversy.”

While no judicial process is involved in the NPA’s way of imposing punishment for both ordinary and counter revolutionary crimes, Alston stated that “failure to respect due process norms constitutes a violation of IHL for the CPP/NPA/NDF and may constitute a war crime for participating cadres.”

Major General Aurelio Baladad, Commander of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division said “These unlawful killings and blatant violation of human rights and the International Humanitarian Law of the NPA must be stopped. The democratic government and the Filipino people want a justice system that is not served through killings.” 
To start the year right, Baladad called for peace towards the CNN and urged the NPA to instead lay down their arms, abandon the armed struggle and join the mainstream society in bringing peace and development especially in the countryside.

“Our Bayanihan efforts to bring peace and development in the countryside will continue as we start the year. We call on the public to be vigilant and let us work together in addressing the challenges of peace,” Baladad added.

Source Article

AFP expects more provinces with NPA to normalize

The military expects more areas grappling with communist insurgency to undergo 'normalization' this year and vowed to work closely with civilians to make it possible.

Armed Forces public affairs chief Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said once a province is declared normalized, the lead role of maintaining peace and security would be transferred from the military to local governments.

He said an area has undergone normalization if local governments and other civilian stakeholders are already active in addressing the causes of rebellion and if insurgency has weakened due to such efforts.

“The root causes of insurgency should be solved not by the military alone but by everyone,” he said.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), however, refuted this outlook and even claimed that the military’s security plan Bayanihan has failed.

“As 2013 ends, we can conclusively declare the defeat of the Aquino regime’s Oplan Bayanihan which failed in its declared aim of reducing the armed strength of the New People’s Army (NPA) to inconsequentiality by the middle of this year,” CPP said in a statement.

The CPP said its fighters would continue to “undertake more frequent tactical offensives.”

“This year, every NPA command must gun for a record increase in the number of weapons seized from the reactionary military, paramilitary and police forces,” the group said.

Bayanihan, which took effect in 2011, seeks to end insurgency by curbing its roots like poverty and lack of access to basic services.

The first three years of the implementation of the security plan will focus on addressing internal armed threat groups.

The final three years of Bayanihan, which starts this year, will be devoted to handing over the lead role in ensuring internal peace and security to civilian government agencies. Such turnover will allow the military to focus on its transition towards territorial defense. 

Zagala believes the military would be able to accomplish the requirements in the security plan.

“We’re optimistic that we will be able to make it,” Zagala said. 

“They (rebels) are against our way of life, our democracy, our freedoms and institutions. We should cherish them by protecting them and we can do so by finding solutions in our own way,” he added.

He said 29 of 81 provinces have undergone normalization due to the military’s anti-insurgency campaigns.

These are Cavite, Marinduque, Romblon, Guimaras, Cebu, Siquijor, Biliran, Bohol, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Aklan, Antique, Eastern Samar, Apayao, La Union, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Kalinga, Nueva Viscaya, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Benguet, Batanes, Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, South Cotabato, Saranggani and Davao Oriental.

The CPP, however, claimed that the mass struggle against the government would intensify this year due to supposed worsening economic conditions and corruption.

Source Article

NPA executes kidnapped soldier

MANILA, Philippines - An Army soldier who was reported missing and believed captured by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels last month has been executed by his captors, the military said yesterday.

Soldiers recovered the body of S/Sgt. Matronillo Macion, commander of a Citizens Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) team in Sitio Vedupe, Barangay San Juan in  Panaon town at the boundary of Jimenez and Aloran towns in Misamis Occidental.

The troops also recovered an improvised explosive device and a grenade.

At least 25 NPA rebels attacked the CAFGU outpost under Macion.

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Jaime Laude | The Philippine Star  | March 5, 2013 | Article Link

Villager takes NPA’s AK-47

A villager from Surigao del Sur already fed up with the abuses of the New People's Army (NPA) took away an AK-47 rifle from the insurgent group and turned over the firearm to the military.

1Lt. Joe Patrick Martinez, commanding officer of the 42nd CMO Company, 4th Infantry Division (4ID), said the villager carted one AK-47 (Norinco brand with defaced serial number), two magazines, and 80 rounds 7.62 mm ammunitions from the members Platoon 2 of Guerilla Front 16 of North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee who were then conducting extortion activities at a community in Barangay Aurora, Tagana-an, Surigao del Norte last February 20.

Martinez said the villager told them that while the NPAs were having a short rest after their extortion activities, he saw one of the insurgents put down his weapon, an AK-47 rifle.

When the insurgents took a nap, he then grabbed the opportunity to sneak and take away the firearm.

The villager then went straight to the 30th Infantry Battalion of the 4ID  based in Barangay Placer, Surigao del Norte, and informed the military about the presence of the insurgents in their community, at the same time, surrender the rifle.

Martinez said the villager claimed that the abuses committed by the NPAs prompted him to steal the rifle from them.

“The money and food that they demand from us is just enough for our family,” lamented the villager.

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Elena L. Aben | Manila Bulletin | February 27, 2013 | Article Link

2 NPAs killed in Cagayan clash

MANILA, Philippines - Two suspected communist rebels were killed during an encounter with government troops in Cagayan, police said on Wednesday.

Police Inspector Ceasar Orlanes, information officer of the Cagayan Provincial Police Office, said the firefight between soldiers and members of the New People's Army took place on Tuesday at around 1:30 p.m. in Barangay Lakambini, Tuao.

Ornales said authorities have yet to identify the casualties.

He said policemen were dispatched to the village after they received information on the presence of at least eight heavily-armed men in the area.

The firefight lasted for almost an hour after which the rebels retreated from the area.

Authorities recovered from the site an M-14 carbine rifle, an M-16 assault rifle and a caliber 45 pistol.

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Dennis Carcamo | The Philippine Star | February 27, 2013 | Article Link

Communist Rebel tagged in Bukidnon attack falls

A SUSPECTED member of the New People’s Army (NPA) who was reportedly among those who attacked two pineapple plantations in Bukidnon last week was arrested on Tuesday.

Police Regional Office (PRO)-Northern Mindanao spokesman Police Superintendent Ronnie Francis M. Cariaga identified the alleged NPA member as Valeriano Anonsaon Jr., alias “Junior.”

Cariaga said Anonsaon, who was nabbed in Barangay Sil-ipon in Libona town, Bukidnon, has a pending arrest warrant for attempted homicide issued by Judge Lourdes Eltanal-Ignacio of the 1st Municipal Trial Court of Bukidnon.

Last February 19, NPA rebels simultaneously attacked the plantations and offices of Del Monte Philippines in Camp Phillips and Dole in Impasug-ong.

A few hours after the attack, at least two suspected NPA rebels were arrested in a manhunt operation in Barangay Kihare, Manolo Fortich, Cariaga added.

“Local police of Libona received information from a confidential informant that Valeriano was last spotted in Barangay Sil-ipon where he stayed with his wife’s uncle and was recuperating from the injuries he suffered in an encounter with Army personnel last February 23,” Cariaga said in an emailed statement.

During investigation, Anonsaon told authorities that three more rebels were injured and three others were killed during the encounter.

Cariaga said the management of Del Monte is now coordinating with the local police in the filing of arson cases against the suspected rebels.

“PRO-10 assures the public that it will continue to pursue its mandate of going after these rebels who were responsible in the series of atrocities in Bukidnon. Police personnel have now identified other suspects based on cartographic sketches,” he said.

One security guard was killed while two other guards and one civilian were injured in the February 19 attack in Del Monte.

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Sun Star Cagayan de Oro | February 28, 2013 | Article Link

Rebels raid village, seize arms cache

KIDAPAWAN CITY - Some 60-armed members of the New Peoples’ Army (NPA) raided a Moro community in a town in Makilala, North Cotabato, and carted away 16 firearms, at 3:15 p.m. last Saturday, an Army official said.

Lt. Manuel Gatus, commander of the Charlie Company of the 57th Infantry Battalion, said the rebels arrived on foot at Sitio Lacobe in Barangay Malabuan in Makilala town and pretended they were soldiers from the 38th Infantry Battalion allegedly tasked to get the villagers' firearms for inspection.

"The villagers, mostly members of a Maguindanaon tribe, were told to gather at the village center for a meeting and while this was on going, some of the rebels forcibly entered the houses and confiscated whatever firearms they could recover from the place," Gatus said.

Gatus said the rebels confiscated eight home-made Uzi pistols, five home-made Ingram pistols, two 38 caliber revolvers, and an M-79 grenade launcher.

The guns, said Gatus, are owned by the Baclid family and their relatives, many of whom are elements of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu).

The raid, the military official stressed, happened two weeks after the decades-old land conflict between the Baclid family and the Ilonggo settlers in the village was finally resolved through years of negotiations and interventions from the government, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), in particular.

The rebels are reportedly against the conflict resolution saying it was “unfair” and “unjust” on the part of the settlers.

Records from DAR showed a wide area of the land in conflict was given to the Baclid family.

The Baclids have long claimed sitio Lacobe as part of their ancestral land.

"In the 70s, during the wars in Mindanao, the Baclids were driven away from their lands. But in the 90s, when everything has returned to normalcy, they returned to their homes. They were surprised, however, to see Ilonggos tilling their lands," said Gatus, citing as basis the account of the Baclids.

The Ilonggos, however, claimed they bought the lands from landowners and other residents of the place. They showed as proof their land titles.

Gatus said that as soon as they confirmed reports the rebels raided the place and carted the villagers’ firearms they immediately sent teams to run after the NPAs whom they believed have set up bases along the boundary of Makilala and Tulunan towns in North Cotabato and in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat.

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Malu Cadeliña Manar | Sun Star Davao | February 27, 2013 | Article Link

Legislating prosperity

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that communism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. 

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on communism".. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. 

The second test average was a D! No one was happy. 

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. 

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that communism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. 

Could not be any simpler than that. (Please pass this on) These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

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Original author unknown

Troops exhume NPA mass purge victim

GOVERNMENT forces exhumed the skeletal remains of a New People’s Army (NPA) rebel believed to be a victim of a mass purge implemented by the Communist Party of the Philippines within the rebels’ rank several years back.

Major Angelo Guzman, Ninth Infantry Division spokesman, on Thursday, said that combined elements of the 49th Infantry Battalion and the local police recovered the remains of Juanito Hirang in Sitio Santol, Barangay Old Camp in Capalonga, Camarines Norte.

Lt. Col. Micheael Buhat, Ninth Infantry Battalion commander, said that the information was tipped off to them by the victim’s former comrade, who was then with the underground movement when Hirang was executed on July 9, 2004.

“It has been bothering his conscience for years that is why he reported it to the Army in order for the victim to have a decent burial,” Buhat said.

Hirang’s skeletal remains was turned over to his family in the municipality of Jose Panganiban.

Last year, some 30 skeletal remains of people also believed to be victims of the communist’s mass purging were also unearthed from a common grave in Bondoc Peninsula of Quezon province.

In 2006, dozens of bodies, also believed to be that of the Maoist rebels, were also exhumed in Inopacan, Leyte province.

The purging operations was reportedly implemented by the communist party starting in the mid 1980s through the so-called Plan Missing Link, which was meant to cleanse the underground movement of alleged military spies, or deep penetration agents.

In Mindanao, the rebels called the purging as operation zombie. A rebel caught spying, or suspected as an undercover agent is considered a zombie, or a walking dead.

Reports said that before a zombie was executed, he or she underwent first a mock trial. If the evidence was weak, he or she was detained and tortured to squeeze out information that would later be used as basis for his or her execution.

The purging took the lives of hundreds of suspected spies, which later caused a schism in the movement that also led to the murder of some communist leaders.

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William B. Depasupil | The Manila Times | February 21, 2013 | Article Link

Reds killed 1 civilian a week in 2012 - AFP

The recent NPA ambush in Negros Occidental claimed nine lives, mostly civilians. Last year, the AFP claimed communist rebels killed an average of one civilian a week.

MANILA, Philippines -- Communist rebels killed an average of one civilian a week last year, the Armed Forces of the Philippines claimed Wednesday.

AFP spokesman Colonel Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said the military recorded 53 civilian deaths in 374 violent incidents in 2012. NPA attacks or clashes also killed 81 soldiers, eight policemen and 22 militiamen.

"Such atrocities are a clear manifestation of the NPAs resorting to force and intimidation to coerce civilians including private firms and individuals, even poor folks in far flung villages of the country to give in to their demands since the NPA has lost its mass base support already," Burgos said in a statement.

The AFP, meanwhile, said 555 communist rebels were arrested, killed or surrendered to the government.

January deadliest month for civilians

The beginning of last year proved to be the deadliest for civilians, the AFP said, with 10 killed and nine wounded in 10 alleged NPA attacks.

"These NPA-initiated violent incidents also resulted to three fatalities from the AFP, PNP, and CAA (CAFGU active auxiliary) while 27 were wounded. This clearly shows that the rebel group continues to pursue armed violence despite ongoing peace efforts by the government," Burgos said.

Last month, the NPA also admitted responsibility for the death of nine people, mostly civilians, in La Castellana, Negros Occidental but claimed that they were fired upon first.

The AFP claimed the NPA has been reduced to attacking "soft targets" and continue to use improvised explosive devices, ambushes and extorting from civilians.

Ceasefire violations

During the December 16 to January 15 ceasefire, the longest ever between the government and communist rebels, the AFP said it had recorded at least five incidents of harassment by the NPA, in Agusan del Norte, Malaybalay City, North Cotabato, Tanay, Rizal, South Cotabato and Camarines Sur.

A soldier and a militiaman were killed and two others were wounded.

The NPA also abducted a policeman and a soldier, Burgos said.

Despite these incidents, the AFP said it would continue to support peace efforts by the government but "will continue to intensify our focused security operations against armed rebels who continue to wage armed violence causing loss of innocent lives, destruction of properties, and damage to vital economic facilities and infrastructures,” AFP chief of staff General Emmanuel Bautista said.
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Abigail Kwok | InterAksyon.com | February 6, 2013 | Article Link

Philippine Army kills 2 NPA fighters in Albay clash

Two New People’s Army rebels were killed in a firefight with government troops in Albay Saturday, reported Army 9th Infantry Division spokesman Maj. Angelo Guzman Sunday. 

 

He related that soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division were deployed at the outskirts of Camalig town after receiving information from a resident about the rebels’ presence.

 

“(The soldiers) responded to an information from a local folk about the presence of 10 NPAs in their village doing some recruitment efforts, disinformation drives and extortion,” said Guzman.

 

At around 5:30 a.m. Saturday, Guzman said that an army squad (about nine soldiers) caught up with the rebels.

 

Citing a report from the 2nd IB commander Lt. Col. Audrey Pasia, Guzman said, “Though outnumbered, they were able to outmaneuver the rebels and gave them a big blow.”

 

Guzman named the slain rebels as Arboy Moina and Fernando Mostoles Jr. Their remains were turned over to the police.

 

Guzman added that government soldiers, backed by K9 tracking dogs, have been deployed to conduct pursuit operations against the fleeing rebels.

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GMA News Online | August 20, 2012 | Article Link

Army cautions village officials involved with rebel movement

COLONEL Oscar Lactao, commander of the Philippine Army's 303rd Brigade in Bacolod, cautioned village officials who get involved in the rebel movement.

This came after a rebel who was slain in a recent encounter with the Army turned out to be a president of a sitio in a city in northern Negros.

Lactao said he was surprised to know that the slain rebel identified as Edgar Saguirre Lopez was a purok president in Barangay Jonob Jonob, Escalante City.

He said Lopez was hit by gunfire from government troopers in the encounter that took place in the area recently.

He added that according to Army informants, three other rebels were wounded in that encounter. 

Government troops also recovered after the clash a communist flag, subversive documents and combat packs containing personal belongings and empty shells of assorted high-powered firearms.

Lactao then reminded government officials that they have sworn allegiance to the Philippine flag, thus they are expected to uphold the law of the country.

He urged the officials to end their involvement with the rebel movement, saying that in a firefight, bullets from guns of government forces do not recognize whether one is a barangay official or not.

He said the barangay officials should be the first to uphold the law.

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SunStar.Com.Ph | August 10, 2012 | Article Link

Alleged NPAs attack rescue team in Masbate

MANILA, Philippines - Alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) attacked soldiers in Masbate on Wednesday morning while on duty extending disaster and relief services.

One of the insurgents died, however, as the government soldiers retaliated, said Southern Luzon Command spokesperson Col. Generoso Bolina.

He said Disaster Rescue and Relief forces were sent to flood-prone areas in preparation for any disaster. At around 6 a.m. at Intusan in the town of Palawan, a firefight ensued.

Quoting 9th IB commander Lt. Col. Jun Pacatan, Bolina said: "I immediately sent a platoon to the area to assist the people but as my platoon was approaching the village, they were fired upon by the rebels."

The firefight lasted 18 minutes. Government soldiers recovered later the body of the insurgent, an M16 rifle, an M14 rifle, two landmines and other war materials.

Col. Felix Castro Jr., 903rd Brigade commander, has already directed the soldiers to stay in the area "for possible DRR operations amidst heavy rains."

"They did not wait (for the worse to come). There is already a weather alert so they went to the area, so that if something happens they can immediately render assistance,” Bolina said.

He asked the rebels to allow the soldiers to do their work in rendering assistance.

"They (rebels) should stop their attacks. We should join hands in rendering assistance to the people. Let us not fight each other at this time and help each other in assisting the people," he said.

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ABS-CBNnews.com | August 8, 2012 | Article Link

Suspected rebels ambush 2 cops

Philippines – Two policemen were ambushed by suspected Communists rebels while on their way to secure confiscated logs in Butuan City Monday, according to the CARAGA regional police.

Police Officer 2 Adones Dumaboc died while PO2 Sergio Sergio Salagoste was injured.

Senior Superintendent Mario Soriano, acting CARAGA regional director, said the rebels also took the two M16 rifles of the victims.

Soriano said the two cops were supposed to augment a small group of policemen who confiscated illegally-cut logs at Esperanza Veneer Corporation when they were waylaid at around 10 a.m. in Barangay Bit-os in Butuan City.

“The attackers used landmines as revealed by the recovered explosive materials in the area,“ said Soriano. 

After the blast, the official said the rebels also fired at the policemen who were on board a motorcycle when the incident occurred.

“Our investigators recovered more or less 100 pieces of empty shells from the different caliber of firearms,“ he said.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) learlier intensified the antiillegal logging activities in CARAGA region following the onslaught of tropical storm “Ondoy“ last year that left more than 1,000 dead.

The regional director of CARAGA region was relieved last week for failure to stop illegal logging activities as well as eight police commanders in June this year.

Both the police and the military have accused local communist rebels of protecting illegal logging activities in CARAGA and nearby provinces.

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Aaron Recuenco | Tempo.Com.Ph | August 8, 2012 | Article Link

13 Philippine communist rebels killed in clashes

Philippine soldiers killed 13 communist guerrilla rebels in two separate clashes on Saturday, in what military officials described as one of the biggest victories over the insurgents in years.

Eleven New People's Army (NPA) rebels were killed around noon in San Narciso town, south of Manila, while two rebels were killed in a pre-dawn gunbattle in Botolan town, northwest of the capital.

Military spokesman Colonel Arnulfo Burgos said both clashes were a result of tip-offs from civilians, which showed that the government's new counter-insurgency strategy was working.

"This is by far the largest number of NPA casualties in one single encounter in recent history," he said, describing the San Narciso clash.

Fifteen rebels were setting up an ambush for troops on a roadside when soldiers intercepted them, said local army commander Colonel Eduardo Ano.

Two soldiers were also wounded in the 30-minute gunfight, he said, adding that six guns and two grenade launchers were recovered.

"The (local population) gave us information. They must be getting tired of the NPA," Ano told AFP.

Just hours earlier, soldiers clashed with about a dozen NPA fighters in Botolan, killing two and capturing four, said local army commander, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Samson.

Five rifles and two grenades were recovered in the incident, he said in a statement.

The NPA is the armed unit of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging one of Asia's longest running insurgencies that began in 1969.

The government has said the NPA is largely deflated after years of losses in the battlefield with only about 4,000 fighters nationwide as of 2011 from a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s.

However the group remains active, attacking military and police outposts and looting and extorting money from rural businesses like mining companies and plantations.

In April, the guerrillas killed 11 soldiers and a civilian in a daring ambush of three army convoys.

President Benigno Aquino's government re-opened peace talks with the communists in February last year but the talks have been delayed by the rebels' demand to release detained comrades.

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Yahoo News Online | June 30, 2012 | Article Link

Gov’t orders intensified intel amid NPA attack in Albay

MANILA, Philippines -- Intensified intelligence activities are now in place across the country amid the torching of over P100 million worth of heavy-duty construction equipment by alleged members of the New People’s Army in Albay on Friday night.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said authorities are now coordinating with people on the ground, but intelligence operations will also be intensified across the country.

Two soldiers were wounded when alleged members of the communist group attacked an ongoing construction of the international airport in Barangay Alobo at around 9:35 p.m. on Friday.

The commander of the 901st Infantry Brigade, Col. Arthur Ang, said around eight members of the NPA harassed an Army detachment, which has been providing security at the construction site.

“Without our soldiers, all equipment and facilities could have been burned,” Ang said.

Two dump trucks, one backhoe, two articulated trucks, two payloaders, two road rollers and one grader were burned by another group of rebels.

The pieces of equipment are owned by Sunwest Corp.

The rebels have allegedly asked for revolutionary taxes from the private firm.

“This is a desperate move by the NPA rebels because Sunwest Corporation will never concede to their extortion demands,” Ang said.

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ABS-CBNnews.com | May 20, 2012 | Article Link

‘Morong 5’ to testify for military

Being comrades apparently has its limits.

Five members of the so-called “Morong 43” are willing to testify against their former comrades who have accused the military of torture when they were arrested as communist rebels two years ago in a private resort in Morong, Rizal.

Ellen Carandang said she and the four others who have swung over to the government side were willing to testify that they were not tortured in case of a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation.

The “Morong 5” have confessed to being New People’s Army (NPA) members and chosen to stay in Camp Capinpin as rebel returnees. The camp is the headquarters of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division.

“I want to tell our former comrades that we are ready to testify against them, to tell the truth,” Carandang, speaking in Filipino, told reporters in Camp Capinpin on Saturday.

“You can say that some are legitimate (medical practitioners), but they help the NPA,” she added.

“Their claim that there was torture, that’s not true,” said Jenilyn Pizarro, who last year married a soldier she had met in the camp. She was then 19.

Carandang, Pizarro and Valentino Paulino faced reporters in the presence of Maj. Gen. Eduardo Del Rosario, the 2nd Infantry Division commander. Two other members of their group—Cherilyn Tawagon and John Mark Barrientos—did not show up.

No torture

Last week, a lawyer for eight other members of the “Morong 43” filed a case of torture at the DOJ against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, two former military chiefs and 16 other security personnel. The eight claimed they were tortured while detained at Camp Capinpin.

Del Rosario said that since Carandang and the four others were not tortured, it would follow that the others also were not tortured.

“The five told the truth,” Del Rosario said. “They are members of the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines). They were conducting a seminar on how to give first aid in case someone is wounded in an encounter.”

Carandang claimed one of the eight complainants, whom she said is a doctor, taught emergency surgery very well. She also said the owner of the resort where they held the seminar did not know about what the group was doing.

Military claim

Carandang, Pizarro and Paulino said they were all being treated well in the camp. “No good would have come out if we had continued to stay in the mountains. We would only have further neglected our families,” Carandang said.

Her husband has stayed behind with the NPA with one of their children. They have had no communication for a year, she said.

The Morong 43 were health workers arrested in the military raid on  Feb. 6, 2010. The military claimed they were NPA cadres training in making bombs.

President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the charges against them withdrawn. They were freed before Christmas that year. Six of them later sued Arroyo for damages.

On Thursday, eight members of the group also accused Arroyo and 18 others, including military and police officers, of torture.

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Dona Z. Pazzibugan | Philippine Daily Inquirer | May 14, 2012 | Article Link