Crush the NPA, now!

Crush NPA checkpoints! This is the order given by President Aquino in the wake of the ambush by said rebels on the convoy of Sen. TG Guingona's mother who is also the mayor of Gingoog City. Two aides died in the ambush, while the mayor and her two security escorts were injured. The NPA, through their spokesperson, apologized for the encounter, but also blamed the convoy for it, saying all candidates should ask for their permission when campaigning or traveling within their territory. I wonder what territories they are referring to. I don't recall any part of the Philippines belonging to the New People's Army. Quite delusional, really. And by whose authority are they even making these demands? Their guns? Their numbers? I thought the NPA no longer had the capability to wage an effective insurrection as claimed by the AFP. And now they are demanding that candidates secure permits from them if they are to campaign, even permits to carry arms? Hello?

If anything, the NPA should have been crushed a long time ago. Their numbers and financial support have dwindled over the past years, forcing them to resort to banditry and crime, ideology flying out the window. Not to mention an internal struggle within their leadership that is sure to affect their cause. But since another election is just around the corner, they have once again stepped up their efforts to collect the so-called revolutionary taxes. Why these NPA checkpoints are even able to be installed is a mystery. Shouldn't they be taken down, and those manning it arrested, or if they put up a fight, neutralized?

I have heard it said that a rebellion is good for business, especially for the AFP, which is why the NPA has been allowed to exist all these years. I've heard that said so many times, I think it is actually taught in schools. With the AFP's capability today, along with a President who does not scrimp on spending for the military, the NPA should already go the way of eight-track and Betamax tapes.

Four decades is just too long for an insurgency. Just like everything in the Philippines, it had to take an incident for action to be taken. Tearing down NPA checkpoints should not just occur during elections, but all the time. They should not be allowed to make any demands or pronouncements on anyone. They should not be able to extort from anyone. They are insurgents. They are outside the law. They are an affront to the Constitution of the Philippines.

Enough said.