Ending insurgency before Duterte’s term achievable, military says

By Jennifer P. Rendon

 

At the rate that the campaign is being implemented, insurgency could be toppled before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, an Army official said.

Brigadier General Noel Baluyan, 3rd Infantry Division deputy commander, said the surrender of regular New People’s Army and their supporters and the continued clearing of insurgency-affected barangays are indications that the rebel movement has lost their influence.

“Sa mga kanayunan natin, mulat na ang mga tao sa exploitations na ginagawa ng NPAs,” Baluyan said citing efforts done by the inter-agency task force to address the issues of barangays that have been cleared from insurgency influence.

Baluyan said they’re expecting that by the end of the Duterte administration, all remaining insurgency-affected villages in its areas of responsibilities (Western Visayas and Central Visayas) will be cleared.

“But of course, hindi ibig sabihin na kapag cleared na ay okay na siya. The bigger task ahead would be the sustainment of the efforts na hindi na ulit sila ma-penetrate ng rebeldeng grupo,” he said.

Meanwhile, Brigadier General Marion Sison, 301st Infantry Brigade commander, said they are looking to clear all insurgency-affected barangays in Panay by the end of this month or next month.

Presently, Community Support Program (CSP) teams are deployed to 30 barangays in areas covering Southern Panay.

The CSP teams conduct community services and civil military operations (CMO)-related activities in the barangays.

These activities are anchored on the government’s initiative to provide a people-centered program, which aims to bring peace and development in conflict-affected barangays. It is an initiative of our state forces to bring the government closer to the people through an immediate delivery of basic services, especially to grassroots communities.

The conduct of the CSP is one of the requisites in declaring a village insurgency cleared.

Sison said they have already conducted the said program to 19 villages in Central Panay.

“The next step would be the dismantling of fronts. This time, the target of our soldiers would be the armed components of the CPP-NPA,” Sison said adding they would carry out the move together with the Philippine National Police.

In doing that, he said the concept would be to co-locate with the enemy.

“Kung nasaan sila, nandoon din ang ating mga sundalo,” he said.

After the CSP, a local government unit-led Retooled- CSP will be done in these barangays, as one effort to sustain the government’s anti-insurgency efforts,

“No issues, no insurgency,” Baluyan said stressing the importance of continued deliver of basic social services and other infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, Baluyan said it wouldn’t be long also before insurgency-affected barangays in Negros Island would also be cleared since “may sinusunod kami na timeline.”

“Aside from unearthing the structures of the communist terrorist group, the military is also taking account the armed group and the dismantling of political structures,” he said.

Baluyan said they are accounting for the remaining armed groups, which would be dismantled through focus military operations.

And given the support of the government and the people, both Baluyan and Sison said ending the insurgency is already within sight.