NPA weakens on dismantled fronts
A total of 17,958 rebels have already surrendered to the government and returned to the fold of the law since President Rodrigo Roa Duterte took office, according to the Task Force Balik Loob under the Department of National Defense.
In the weekly virtual press conference of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and National Task Force to End Local Communists Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), Navy Captain Ferdinand Buscato of the TFBL told reporters yesterday that a total of 17,958 rebels have so far surrendered beginning July 2016 up to May 28 of this year. Among them, 3,684 were “regular members” of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed group of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), 2,039 were from the Militia ng Bayan. 1,760 were from Underground Mass Organizations (UGMO) of the National Democratic Front (NDF), and 7,074 other mass supporters, Buscato said. At least 2,789 surrenderees are still undergoing verification by the Task Force.
It is important to note that through the E-CLIP or Enhanced Comprehensive Local Information Program being implemented by the TFBL, former rebels are reintegrated back with their families and are able to start over with financial benefits which include housing, education, and medical assistance, among others.
NTF-ELCAC Vice Chairperson Secretary and NSA Hermogenes Esperon Jr. confirmed the report, noting that “there are remaining guerilla fronts but more than half of these are deemed weakened because of the continuing surrenders and the favorable results of our operations, including the deployment of what we now call the Retooled Community Support Program which are clearing the barangays that used to be guerilla bases of the CPP-NPA.”
However, NTF-ELCAC official said that the many people are still being deceived by the Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs) especially in far-flung barangays such as peasants, farmers, fisher folks, and “very especially from students” and the youth where recruitments are continuously being made to resupply the forces of the insurgents.
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