MANILA, Philippines - The military yesterday accused communist rebels of insincerity in the peace talks after the latter issued a threat against landowners and companies supposedly destroying the environment.
“Their declaration and pronouncement show that they are insincere in talking peace with the government. If you study their history, many administrations have passed and they are still raising the same old issues,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said in a press briefing.
“For all intents and purposes, they would use force and intimidation to command obedience and extort money. That is against the law,” he added.
Burgos claimed the rebels’ atrocities prove that they are no longer fighting for an ideology.
“They are mere bandits and criminal elements,” he said.
On Sunday, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) ordered its fighters to “arrest” landlords who block land reform and to attack firms that harm the environment.
The statement, which was contained in the rebel publication Ang Bayan, was issued a day before the CPP commemorated its 43rd anniversary.
“We must arrest and try landlords who violently oppose land reform, the human rights violators, the plunderers, drug lords and enemy spies,” CPP said.
But Burgos claimed the number of rebel supporters is dwindling. He said 341 rebels either surrendered or were killed this year while 229 barangays have been cleared of insurgency.
“They are losing mass base that is why they are resorting to force to extort money from companies,” Burgos said, adding that the strength of the insurgents is now less than 5,000.
However, the National Democratic Front (NDF), the umbrella group of the rebels, claimed that the communist rebellion is becoming stronger.
Jose Maria Sison, NDF chief political consultant, said there have been estimates that the strength of the rebels ranges from 6,000 to 14,400.
Maj. Eugenio Osias IV, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said the holiday season is the right time for the CPP to order the NPA to stop committing atrocities.
“The CPP should now denounce violence, extortion, sexual and financial opportunism being done by their members,” Osias said.
For his part, AFP Eastern Mindanao Command spokesman Col. Leopoldo Galon Jr. said the CPP-NPA-NDF of today “is disintegrating.”
“It has lost external support, has no state sponsor, has extinct ideology and has committed unthinkable sins against the Filipino people,” Galon said in a statement.
“Not wanting unity, it (rebellion) is keeping the Filipinos divided. Any unity, any growth, however delicate, is immediately sabotaged,” he added.