(UPDATED) THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Davao de Oro admitted that the number of rebel remnants resuming their activities as insurgents has increased in some parts of the province.
Noel Duarte, provincial director of DILG-Davao de Oro, disclosed during the Defense Press Conference Special Episode on Thursday, February 29, 2024, that the New People's Army (NPA) remnants are mostly operating in the “white areas”, such as the Poblacion area or the center of the town, not only in Maco but also in the neighboring towns of the province.
“It was reported nga daghan na'g mga remnant ang reported not only in Davao de Oro but insurgents from different neighboring provinces ang namalik and this started in the white area (It was reported that there were many remnants not only in Davao de Oro but insurgents from neighboring provinces have returned to insurgency and they started in the white area),” he said.
Duarte explained that the “red area” is where most gunfire happens while the “white area” is the Poblacion area where people feel safe.
He said that they are operating in the “white areas” and this is one thing that they are looking into because the common notion of the people about insurgency is the people in the mountains who are fighting against the government.
“Ang atoa lang man gyud notion sa insurgency kay rebelde nag saka-saka sa bukid nag gira-gira, wala ta kabalo nga kana bang in the guise of theater workshop, in the guise of sayaw-sayaw (Our notion of insurgency is rebels who are in the mountains waging war against the government, what we do not know is in the guise of theater workshop, in the guise of dancing),” he said.
During the massive landslide incident in Masara, Municipality of Maco, Duarte shared that some rebels tried to infiltrate by tree planting, giving aid, and helping in debriefing.
“These are some of the strategies of the people in the white area operation of the… dili lang NPA but CTG (communist terrorist group) the mysterious group, kana ba nga mga butang. We should not be confident nga ma-sustain nato ni but when we say sustainment of this insurgency-free this does not need only talking, sitting… this needs funds (These are some of the strategies of the people in the white area operation of not only the NPA but the CTG, these types of things. We should not be confident that we can sustain our insurgency-free status but when we say sustainment, this does not need only talking, sitting… this needs funds),” he said.
Duarte said that this was one of the things that they discussed during the End Local Communist Armed Conflict (Elcac) meeting last February 28, where various activities and strengthening programs were planned to keep the region free from insurgency.
The province was officially declared insurgency-free in June 2022, while Davao Oriental is the last province in Davao declared as insurgency-free on September 19, 2022. RGP
Related stories:
