Año: NPA guerilla fronts down to 5

The guerrilla fronts of the New People’s Army (NPA) is now down to five, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said, citing the first semester report of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

“We are confident na kaya nating matapos ‘yung armed component. Sa Armed Forces of the Philippines, ang target nila ay December 2024, August pa lang naman tayo,” Año said in a dinner dialogue with media executives Tuesday night.

(We are confident that we can eradicate the armed component. The target of the Armed Forces of the Philippines is December 2024. It is only August.)

In July, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said there were only seven guerilla fronts in the country.

Of the initial seven active guerilla fronts, Año said two are already being readied for official announcement by government units especially the military and the concerned local government units.

According to NTF-ELCAC executive director Ernesto Torres Jr,. there were 89 active NPA guerrilla fronts in 2018.

Año further said the work is not yet finished even if all guerilla fronts will be neutralized since they have to prevent the group from recruiting new members.

“If they will no longer use the armed struggle pero tuloy-tuloy pa rin sila, Okay din ‘yun. Kasi kapag walang NPA sa organisasyon, kahit na magdadakdakan sila, parang rotary club lang ‘yan, usap-usap sila, pero walang mamamatay, ‘yun ‘yung gusto natin. But at the same time, we’re aggressively addressing the root causes of the armed conflict through good governance, that’s why the NTF-ELCAC is there,” he said.

(It’s okay If they will no longer use the armed struggle but they continue with their organization, because if there are no NPA in the organization, even if they talk, they are like a rotary club, but there will be no casualties. That is what we want. But at the same time, we’re aggressively addressing the root causes of the armed conflict through good governance, that’s why the NTF-ELCAC is there.)

Año urged the media to work with the government in “peace and development efforts” for the country.

“The media bear such a hefty responsibility, but we're more than willing to help you come up with fair and informed reportage. And I hope too that you are willing to join hands with us. Keeping the citizenry abreast of these issues and propelling them to take action should be a shared commitment between the government and the media,” he said.

He also denied allegation that the government is into red-tagging or identifying people as members of the Communist Party of the Philippines - NPA.

“We’ve poured so much in this campaign – so much that we’re afraid that our efforts will just be tarnished or will just be put into vain by controversies of any wrongdoing or lapse on our part. As such, we’ve been as sincere as ever in our drive, always setting our sights on what could give rise to a lasting and widespread peace and development across the archipelago,” Año said.

In May, the NSC denied allegations made by Kabataan and ACT Teachers party-lists that the pamphlets they distributed showed students and rallyists as terrorists opposing government policies.

The NSC and NTF-ELCAC hosted the dinner dialogue in Quezon City. It was the first NTF-ELCAC-initiated gathering since its establishment in 2018.

Among those invited were Raffy Tima and Raffy Jimenez of GMA Integrated News, representatives of Manila Bulletin, Rappler, Business Mirror, Daily Tribune, ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs, Manila Standard, and Manila Times.—Mariel Celine Serquiña/AOL, GMA Integrated News