Albay local exec bears brunt of silent war

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines  – It was a Sunday and supposedly a rest day for Warren Morilla, who was taking his time at a house in the far-flung Barangay Florista in Libon town, Albay.

The barangay councilman was surprised when 10 heavily armed men called on him at noon of Sept. 5.

As a local official, it was common for him to entertain anyone who needs help in the community any time of the day, especially now that the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections are fast approaching.

But the armed men who visited him were not in uniform unlike the other members of the Army special operations team who normally visit the barangay.

“They asked me to identify the houses of the NPA rebels living in the barangay,” Morilla said in a police report. “When I said ‘I don’t know,’ they got irked and pointed the barrels of their firearms at me.”

The armed men suddenly dragged him out of his house, covered his head with a plastic bag and started hitting the different parts of his body with the butts of their rifles.

“They also searched my house and forced me to sign a piece of paper stating that no things were taken and no one was hurt during the search,” Morilla said.

The armed men then left hurriedly towards a mountainous area nearby. Morilla, however, found out later that his wallet containing his identification cards and P360 plus two bolos and a pair of slippers, were lost after the armed men went away.

The military recently said it now has a list of the names and aliases of communist rebels, which will help bolster its campaign against the NPA.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta said the list would allow the military to develop a new strategy to meet its self-imposed deadline of defeating the communist movement in three years.

“We have all their names, if not their aliases,” Mabanta declared in response to questions on how the AFP was able to keep track of the insurgents.

Officials said the number of NPA rebels has dwindled to 5,000 nationwide and to less than a hundred in the Bicol region’s six provinces, namely Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon.

Earlier, the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA-National Democratic Front) expressed readiness to resume peace talks with the Aquino administration.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles, on the other hand, said the government continues to prepare for the holding of peace talks with the CPP-NPA-NDF despite recent attacks launched by the communist group against some members of the police force.

Meanwhile, the non-government group Bayanihan para sa Kapayapaan (Yes4Peace) is preparing a 10-item questionnaire for an informal referendum on the peace process aimed at Grade 4 to Fourth Year High School students.

The questions would revolve around whether the respondents would wish all hostilities between the government and armed groups to be resolved before year-end, as well as address the roots of conflict, according to Bayanihan para sa Kapayapaan lead organizer Ernie Alcanzare, who said they are working together with the Department of Education and the Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.