YEARENDER: Waning insurgency helps propel Bicol's growth

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – A waning communist insurgency is one of the major factors propelling Bicol’s high growth for the first time in the region’s history.

Maj. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, commanding general of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division based in Pili, Camarines Sur, said they are ready 24 hours a day to preserve Bicol’s high growth through sustained internal security operations against the region’s major threat – the Bicol Regional Party Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its military arm, the New People’s Army (NPA).

Bicol’s gross regional domestic product reached 8.2 percent in 2009 due to the geothermal, mining and services sectors, and five percent due to a surge in tourism and trade.

“The deployment of the 9th ID is now paying off, as the armed capability of the NPA in Bicol has been reduced,” said Pabustan in an e-mail to The STAR. “Based on our assessment, the communist insurgency in Bicol is slowly dying a natural death.”

Pabustan, who believes that communist insurgency cannot wither by body counts alone, also attributed the region’s growth to Bicol’s new breed of local executives like Albay Gov. Joey Salceda and Camarines Sur Gov. Lray Villafuerte who provided leadership in addressing poverty and unemployment by transforming the region into an attractive place to invest and to visit.

Continuous combat operations, development programs, disaster and rescue operations, and respect for human rights have drastically diminished the influence of the CPP-NPA in Bicol.

With its headquarters in Pili, Camarines Sur, the 901st Infantry Brigade is deployed in Albay and Catanduanes, the 902nd IB in Camarines Norte, and the 903rd IB in Sorsogon and Masbate.

Military successes

From some 520 regulars, the NPA has been drastically reduced in the past two years to 278 fighters scattered in Bicol’s six provinces.

Success in military combat operations has resulted in 49 guerrillas killed, 125 giving themselves up, 68 falling into the hands of the law, and 103 firearms confiscated.

In July this year, rebels who surrendered after an encounter pinpointed their safehouse, resulting in the recovery of a large arms cache in Lupi, Camarines Sur.

Due to lack of firearms, NPA rebels are now using Danao-made paltik firearms like 9-mm Ingram machine pistols.

Two ranking NPA leaders, Elmer Osila of Albay and Eleuterio Mangampo of Sorsogon, were among those killed in encounters with government troops this year.

“They (NPA) are also finding it hard to replace their combat losses with new members, curtailing their capability to muster enough force to terrorize far-flung areas,” Pabustan said.

Jason Brul, 34, the new commander of the NPA’s Front Committee 79 in Sorsogon, was wounded and captured in an encounter with elements of the 83rd Infantry Battalion in Barcelona town last Dec. 7. Recuperating in a Sorsogon hospital, he said he now wants to live a new life with his family.

“Communist activists use deception in recruiting their members and use threats or conduct liquidation to keep them following the ideological line,” Pabustan said.

A sizeable number of poor farmers who resented the NPA’s extortion are voluntarily providing information through text messages on the guerrillas’ movements, resulting in “precision strikes” against mobile rebel units.

Liquidations

To reverse their combat losses, NPA rebels continue to use their proven tactic in the war of attrition by liquidating unarmed soldiers and paramilitary forces as well as suspected informers.

Six soldiers and eight CAFGU personnel were liquidated by communist special partisan units, along with 45 persons, mostly civilians, this year.

In 2009, 52 civilians, including former comrades whom they had suspected of abandoning the communist movement, were killed by NPA death squads.

Extortion

To support the insurgency, NPA rebels impose “revolutionary taxes” on ordinary farmers, small businessmen and even village officials.

There are reports that NPA rebels are the ones getting the internal revenue allotments of barangays where they still supposedly wield influence or have control of.

“The CPP-NPA in Bicol was able to collect about P19 million from their various extortion activities, based on captured documents in 2009,” Pabustan said.

“But through intelligence and combat operations as well as information, this was reduced to P14 million this year,” he added.

It is during elections when rebels extort from politicians and candidates. Permit-to-campaign fees from local politicians were reduced to P12.5 million this year from P15 million in the 2004 and 2007 elections.

Before the May 2010 national elections, Army for-ces in Catanduanes confiscated after an encounter color-coded, permit-to-campaign cards intended for distribution to local politicians and candidates.

In fact, a Catanduanes bet allegedly paid P2.5 million to secure a permit to campaign in far-flung areas.

Development programs

Aside from going after armed rebels, the Army has launched various development programs in coordination with local government units (LGUs) and non-governmental organizations to bring basic services to villagers.

“Our work now is more on winning the peace by helping LGUs in their development programs,” he said. “Our soldiers have prioritized the implementation of various infrastructure projects through our Army engineers in NPA-influenced barangays.”

Under the Kalayaan sa Barangay Program (KBP), Army engineers have constructed school buildings, put up electrification systems and water systems, and built farm-to-market roads.

This year, the Army’s 51st Engineering Brigade completed P175 million worth of KBP projects, including 28 school buildings, 31 water systems, 20 health centers, and 41 farm-to-market roads in rebel-influenced villages in Camarines Sur.

Believing that infrastructure projects can hasten economic growth in the hinterlands, government troops have beefed up security to prevent NPA rebels from extorting from contractors of development projects in Bicol.

But NPA rebels conducted ambuscades that killed five soldiers, including an officer and two militiamen, who were securing development projects in Sorsogon and Camarines Sur this year.

These vital infrastructure projects included a road network to tourist destinations in the Caramoan peninsula, a hydroelectric plant in Catanduanes, and a diversion road leading to the Southern Luzon International Airport in Barangay Alobo in Daraga, Albay.

Respect for human rights

For the past two years, soldiers have also been trained properly on civil-military operations and human rights protection.

“We have definitely won the hearts and minds of the people due to our much improved human rights record,” said Pabustan.

He said Army units are under strict orders “to ensure that civilians are not caught in the crossfire while those who surrendered during clashes were protected from harm.”

Pabustan said wounded NPA Front Committee 79 commander Jason Brul personally thanked him during his visit for sparing his life and respecting his rights after the encounter.

“We support the search for lasting peace in our country which is necessary to achieve high growth and prosperity for all Filipinos as we celebrate Christmas through a ceasefire with the CPP-NPA, as we continuously upgrade our capabilities, raise our morale and welfare to prepare for the challenges of the New Year,” he said.