AFP, NPA claim victory in anti-insurgency drive

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – The military claimed it has succeeded in reducing Communist rebel forces in Eastern Visayas.

Lieutenant Colonel Armand Rico, information officer of the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City, said their anti-insurgency campaign resulted to substantial gains—from 14 to two New People’s Army (NPA) guerilla fonts last year.

Rico said government troops initiated at least 70 anti-insurgency operations that led to the capture of 26 suspected rebels, 12 of them were killed in the clashes.

The military operations, he said, also resulted to the surrender of 159 NPA members, the recovery of 145 assorted firearms and the discovery and dismantling of 28 rebel camps,

140 villages in Samar provinces, he said, were also “freed” from the influence of the rebels in 2009.

Success

“We can say that our anti-insurgency campaign was a success,” Rico said.

The military official said that their campaign against the insurgents will continue to be relentless this year until the Armed Forces of the Philippines achieves its goal of zero insurgency in the region.

The campaign would not only involve military operations but also the delivery of basic services and projects to the people living in remote villages, he said.

The Army, through its engineering battalions,are engaged in various projects like the construction of farm-to-market roads, water system, health centers, school buildings and even electrification under its “Kalayaan sa Barangay Project.”

“We will enhance our territorial defense system and our community works as part of our campaign against the rebels here in the region,” Rico said.

Over a hundred villages in the region, mostly in the Samar provinces, benefited from the military’s electrification project, he said.

Priest-turned-rebel Fr. Santiago Salas, spokesperson of the National Democratic Front in Eastern Visayas, however, also claimed “victory” against government soldiers last year.

In an e-mailed statement Saturday, Salas said that of the 60 “tactical offensives” that the NPA carried out last year, their group was able to confiscate 40 firearms from soldiers and inflicted 90 casualties.

“We aim to carry out more annihilative guerrilla offensives to accumulate more firearms and strengthen ourselves while weakening the enemy of the people,” Salas said.

Bicol

In Naga City, the military said it had cut down the number of NPA rebels in Bicol by at least a hundred.

From 520 fighters, the number in Bicol was down to 400, according to a report furnished the Inquirer.

The report said 29 NPA cadres were killed in firefights last year, 32 rebels were captured and 59 surrendered.

It said the Army lost five soldiers and 12 militiamen in the 102 firefights between government forces and NPA rebels in 2009, adding that 31 soldiers were reported wounded.

The number of rebel firearms was also reduced, said Maj. Harold Cabunoc, the Army unit’s spokesperson.

“As of today, the BRPC has 362 assorted firearms as compared to its 448 tally in 2008,” Cabunoc added.

He said they recovered 47 high-powered firearms and 39 low-powered firearms from the NPA in 2009, although they also lost 10 high-powered firearms to the rebels. –Joey A. Gabieta Inquirer Visayas with a report from Jonas Cabiles Soltes, Inquirer Southern Luzon