Friday, November 16, 2007 Reds only attack soft targets: military By Carlo P. Mallo
THE capability of the New People's Army (NPA) to sow fear and atrocity is already dwindling.
Brigadier General Rene Badilla, deputy chief of the military's of the Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom), said in Thursday's AFP-PNP Press Corps conference that communist rebels no longer have the capacity to gain the upper hand in the decades-long insurgency in the country.
"The very reason why they only hit soft targets is because they cannot face off with the military elements," Badilla said.
Soft targets are installations that are non-military in nature. Last Monday, 150 rebels attacked two banana plantations in the province of Compostela Valley in broad daylight without any resistance from authorities. The rebels were reportedly clad in complete military uniforms, with matching military haircuts.
Colonel Benito de Leon, spokesperson of the Army's 10th Infantry Division, said one of the reasons why the military failed to intercept last Monday's attack was because an NPA rebel would look like just anyone else in a community.
"There is very little disparity between how a rebel would look like from that of a civilian," de Leon told Sun.Star Davao.
"Whenever we have encounters with the rebels they are the ones who immediately retreat," Badilla added.
