ABOUT 96 communist terrorist group (CTG) members were neutralized in Central Visayas from 2019 to 2021.
Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino presented the accomplishment to President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, March 31, 2022, during the Joint National and Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-RTF ELCAC) VII meeting with local and national officials at the Jpark Island Resort in Lapu-Lapu City.
Dino said 33 of them were killed during encounters while 42 surrendered and 21 were arrested during operations conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP).
Meanwhile, about 86 affected barangays in Central Visayas are expected to be given funding by the second batch of the Barangay Development Program (BDP), a socioeconomic program, in order to develop the areas that have been cleared from the CTG.
Eight of the barangays are located in the towns of Dumanjug, Pinamungajan and Santa Fe in Cebu Province.
Six of these barangays are located in the town of Dumanjug. These are Bulak, Paculob, Panlaan, Tangil, Tubod-Bitoon, and Tubod-Dugoan.
The two other barangays are Lamac in the town of Pinamungajan and Barangay Bitoon (Kinatarkan Island) in Santa Fe.
Each barangay is expected to receive P20 million for development projects, with P12 million going to farm-to-market roads, P3 million going to school buildings, P2 million going to water and sanitation, P1.5 million going to health sanitation, and P1.5 million going to livelihood.
CTG-affected villages
Out of the 86 affected barangays,16 were considered infiltrated, while 13 and 57 barangays were identified as less infiltrated and threatened, respectively.
The most number of CTG-affected barangays are situated in Negros Oriental and Bohol with 39 barangays each.
The municipalities in Negros Oriental with barangays expected to receive the assistance from the government include Ayungon, Bindoy, Canlaon City, Guihulngan City, Mabinay, Manjuyod, Santa Catalina, Siaton, Tayasan, Valencia and Zamboanguita.
In Bohol, the 39 target barangays are located in the municipalities of Antequera, Balilihan, Batuan, Bilar, Calape, Carmen, Catigbian, Clarin, Inabanga, Maribojoc, Sagbayan, Trinidad, Ubay and Valencia.
From 2016 to 2019, the NTF-ELCAC was able to clear around 822 barangays from the influence of the CTG, also known as Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in different regions of the country. Majority of the villages were in Mindanao.
The number of barangays has increased to 1,406 in 2020, wherein majority of the former guerilla bases of the CPP-NPA were located in Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Negros, Northern Mindanao, and CARAGA.
He said all the CTG-affected barangays in the region were cleared as the NPA’s Southeastern Front (SEF), Komiteng Rehiyon-Negros, Cebu/Bohol/Siquijor (KR-NCBS) were already dismantled.
Dino further stressed that the Central Negros 1 (CN1) and Central Negros 2 (CN2) guerilla fronts of KR-NCBS have been weakened as well.
He also reported that about 184 firearms were seized, while 24 high valued individuals and 18 finance officers were captured in the past three years.
Contributions
Various sectoral groups and national agencies have contributed to harmonizing and synchronizing the delivery of services and programs in conflict-affected and vulnerable areas.
Dino said the agencies such as the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Trade and Industry, provided immediate and livelihood assistance, integrated livelihood program, among others to the former rebels who returned and submitted themselves to the government.
Capt. Mark Anthony Cardinoza, civil military operations officer of the 302nd Infantry Brigade, said the delivery of basic services was used as propaganda of the CTG in order to recruit civilians, particularly those residing in isolated or far-flung areas.
Cardinoza said they cannot say that Central Visayas is insurgency free, citing the presence of remnants in various areas.
“As far as the insurgency is concerned, there are still remnants, but we are taking care of them. They are not harmful anymore, unlike before,” he said.
Cardinoza further stressed that a halfway house will be built and used three months from now in Tanjay City in Negros Oriental, where returnees or former rebels will be given interventions in order to meet the holistic approach and restore their mental, psychological, and spiritual aspect, prior to the livelihood programs that will be offered to them by the different agencies.
In an interview with a 23-year-old former rebel from Negros Oriental, he was happy that he was able to return to the government, noting the difficulties when he joined to a CTG when he was just 16 years old.
He said he could not forget the times when he had nothing to eat and contribute to his family when he joined the terrorist group.
“What I would like to say to those who remained to be members of the CTG and to those who are planning to join, is it would be better if you would not join or leave it and go back to the government where you will no longer have to hide and instead benefit from its services,” said the former rebel.
Duterte, for his part, commended the local and national governments for their efforts in bringing the government services closer to the people as he assured them of the administration’s unrelenting campaign against insurgency and lawlessness.