AFP expects to dismantle 14 NPA fronts by yearend
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said yesterday it is expecting to dismantle 14 communist guerrilla fronts all over the country by the end of this year, in order to meet the 2010 timeline set by President Arroyo.
AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said in an interview during the conclusion of the two-day joint military and police First Semester Internal Security Operations Assessment at
He said at the rate they are going, the military would be able to meet its “self-imposed deadline” of finally putting an end to the communist insurgency by the New People’s Army (NPA).
“We must tell you that we are winning, we are on track and we believe that we are on schedule and so doubling our efforts would certainly make our course achievable by our own self-imposed deadline,” he said.
According to Esperon, combined police and military operations have resulted in the neutralization of 900 rebels since December.
Either these rebels were killed in armed engagements, captured or have surrendered to authorities.
The AFP’s 2010 deadline to finally crush the 38-year-old Maoist rebellion in the countryside was spelled out in the government’s internal security operations master plan dubbed “Oplan Bantay Laya 2.”
As of the first quarter this year, Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, Army spokesman, said the NPA’s manpower strength was reduced to 6,736 – with 5,899 firearms – as compared to 7,200 last December.
“We have recorded 60 operations against the communists which yielded positive results last month alone,” he said.
Of the total number of military operations, 27 were in
Last month alone, Torres said Army forces “neutralized” 146 rebels across the country.
Of the figure, 23 were killed, 20 captured, and 103 surrendered and returned to the government fold.
“The target given to us is to neutralize 1,000 NPA rebels to reduce their strength to an insignificant level. This translates to at least 80 rebels a month,” Torres said.
He said the AFP intends to reduce the entire rebel strength to 3,000 within the next three years, to make it an insignificant force to reckon with.
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