AFP: 229 barangays cleared of insurgency this year

MANILA, Philippines - A total of 229 barangays have been cleared of insurgency this year due to the partnership between the government and the private sector, the military said yesterday.

“A total of 341 CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front) personalities have been brought to the bar of justice or returned to government fold while 229 influenced barangays were liberated this year,” the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said in a statement.

AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said the military and local governments determine if an area could be declared free from insurgency.

He said 1,062 barangays remain influenced by the New People’s Army (NPA).

Most of these barangays are within the areas of the Southern Luzon Command, including Masbate, and the Eastern Mindanao Command, including Compostela Valley and Davao del Sur.

“(The reduction in the number of rebel-influenced barangays) is due to the collaboration among various sectors. We are advocating and promoting the bayanihan spirit,” Burgos said, referring to the development projects of the government and private sector.

He said the intensified presence of military units in conflict areas also contributed to the reduction of the NPA’s strength.

Once an area is declared insurgency-free, the military transfers the lead role of maintaining peace and order to the local governments. The AFP, however, would continue to provide security support to the local officials and the police.

Vice President Jejomar Binay himself cited the AFP’s Bayanihan strategy as highlighting the “power of civil-military operations in winning hearts and minds, and in so doing, securing peace.”

“For an armed forces to remain relevant, it must be a partner in development, and not an obstacle to it,” Binay said.   

In another development, a soldier was killed and another one was wounded in an NPA attack last Tuesday in Las Navas, Northern Samar.

Lt. Col. Niceforo Diaz Jr., spokesman of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division, said the soldiers were performing community work when the incident happened.

The fatalities, both members of the 34th Infantry Battalion, have been evacuated from the site of the incident. 

“Murder charges are now being prepared against the alleged perpetrators who remain at large,” Diaz said.

“In spite of the goodwill shown by the AFP through its declaration of a unilateral ceasefire, the local terrorists in the municipality of Las Navas consistently defy the call for peace,” he added.

The incident happened on the fifth day of the unilateral holiday ceasefire declared by the government. The attack is the third atrocity committed by the NPA within the duration of the truce, which took effect last Dec. 16 and will be in force until Jan. 2. – With Jose Rodel Clapano