Malaybalay City— The 8th Infantry Battalion under Ltc Maurito L Licudine engaged the New People’s Army under Guerilla Front 6 in a series of encounter that left the communists with 9 combatants dead, and still-to- be determined number of wounded fighters. Government troops suffered two (2) Killed-in-Action and two others wounded.
The encounter happened in the mountainous area of Barangay Banlag, Valencia City, Bukidnon.
8IB Troopers had been scouring the area for the last two days after receiving intelligence reports about the presence of an NPA encampment somewhere in the vicinity of Barangays Banlag and Concepcion in Valencia City.
At around 12:20 in the afternoon of December 15, troops under Lt Oria and 2Lt Nelvis encountered more or less 60 heavily armed NPAs believed to be under the leadership of Abelardo Navarro a.k.a. Canoy/Zorro. After 20 minutes of heavy exchanges of firefight, the NPAs withdrew southward. At 12:35, the withdrawing NPAs clashed with the troops under Lt de la Cruz and 2Lt Gobway. The skirmishes left the NPAs with 5 dead and several others wounded and the recovery of two (2) M16, two (2) Garand and one (1) M14 high powered firearms.
At 4:00 in the afternoon, the withdrawing NPAs engaged the government troops again. The encounter left them with 4 more dead fighters, bringing the total number of dead NPAs to 9 individuals and additional three (3) M16s and one (1) M14 rifles recovered bringing the total number of recovered firearms to 9.
At around 5:30 in the afternoon, same day, another encounter took place. As of this writing, heavy exchanges of fire is still continuing.
Col Nicanor Dolojan, Brigade Commander of the 403rd Peacemaker Brigade, 4ID PA, expressed optimism that the government troops will prevail in the continuing battle even as he also sympathized with the families of all those who died in the encounter. BGen Mario F Chan, 4ID Commander, instructed the troops to pursue the enemy relentlessly to bring a strong message to the CPP-NPA that their armed revolution has no chance of ever achieving victory.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Using Human Rights to Defend Guerilla Fronts: The CPP-NPA-NDF Struggle for Survival in North Central Mindanao
Introduction
There is a national campaign being pursued by the CPP-NPA-NDF that seek to mobilize well-meaning organizations and groups, some of them traditionally categorized as cause-oriented, around the issue of human rights violations against innocent civilians and IP communities. The said human rights violations were allegedly perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines particularly the troops from the Philippine Army.
The whole campaign is no less than the propaganda and mobilization dimension of the CPP-NPAs general line of march against the government’s Internal Security Operations aimed at bringing them to an inconsequential level by 2010. As per Memorandum of the Central Committee of the CPP addressed to all regional committees, they intend to frustrate the government’s all-out campaign to defeat the insurgency by utilizing all forms of struggle, including the mobilization of legal organizations through sustained campaigns and mass struggles. The same intent is reflected in the Anniversary Statement of the CPP as published in Ang Bayan—the CPPs official publication as well as in the REBOLUSYON—the party’s theoretical journal.
The mobilization of these cause-oriented organizations is unfortunate. Unaware of the real motives behind the campaign, legitimate organizations and church-based groups and institutions have come to the forefront of hurling a range of accusations against the Philippine Army. This is being done against the 4th Infantry Division’s field units in Northern Mindanao and in the CARAGA Region; first in the Andap Valley Complex, which is the base of operation of Guerilla Fronts 19A and 19B under the North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee (NEMRC), and lately, in the Agusan del Sur, Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon area particularly in the areas comprising the tri-boundary of Guerilla Front 4A, Guerilla Front 89 and Guerilla Front 88 of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
While every effort at promoting and defending human rights is a welcome initiative considering its importance in the theory and practice of democracy, deliberate subversion of the truth and the circumvention of facts does not only undermine democracy; it destroys the very essence of human rights.
This Briefing Paper shall attempt to illustrate how the CPP-NPA has manipulated and deceived several institutions and legal organizations by providing them with wrong information and unfounded issues meant primarily to make the government illegitimate. As a result, these organizations were compelled to undertake actions that bring them to a difficult and awkward situation such as denouncing military presence in identified and confirmed guerilla bases where the CPP-NPA has repeatedly launched several tactical offensives against government troops, insinuating that the military should leave the NPAs alone. These actions usually take the shape of a national or regional or provincial campaigns, the central theme of which is the accusation that the government has terrorized its own people; that soldiers are fabricating issues to pin down certain individuals and force them to surrender, and issues of extra-judicial killings.
Aside from showing how the CPP-NPA drumbeats its propaganda offensive as part of its campaign to frustrate the government’s drive, this briefing paper shall also show that in several communities and areas within the Area of Responsibility of the 4th Infantry Division, the people themselves, together with their Local Government officials, are struggling to manifest their rejection of the violence and deception of the CPP-NPA-NDF. The people’s actions are but indicative of their realization that 41 years of being manipulated and exploited by a self-righteous and arrogant CPP-NPA is enough.
The CPP-NPA and The Guerilla Fronts
The Communist Party of the Philippines is organized into cells, party branches, party conferences, committees, and bureaus. Its highest governing body is the Party Congress represented by the Central Committee (CC) in between congresses. Running the day to day affairs is the Executive Committee (CC-EC) and assisted by island-wide commands, staff organs and commissions, regional and provincial committees, and front committees. Specific committees undertaking work in the urban centers are called White Area Committees.
The most visible expression of the CPPs protracted war is the New People’s Army organized into different layers of command. The leadership of the CPP over the NPA is exercised through the regional committees at the regional level, and front committees at the level of guerilla fronts.
The guerilla fronts are the CPP-NPA’s tactical units in-charge in the conduct of a range of political and military activities including community organizing and base building, tactical offensives, and collection of revolutionary taxes. They also engage in production activities and enterprise ventures using community organizations as dummies. They generate resources by collecting monthly dues (BUTAW) from community residents, pledges and donations from allies, and “revolutionary taxes” from business firms operating within their area of operation.
Within guerilla fronts are particular communities organized and categorized according to their level of development. The center of operation of the party is in the so-called guerilla bases, where the CPP-NPAs politico-military structure are well-established, and where residents are organized into different mass organizations, recruited as NPA regulars, or organized as People’s Militia (Milisya ng Bayan). In the guerilla base, Party Branches are duly established, and so-called organs of political power are organized to exercise governance and administrative function. The area where the guerilla bases are located are called guerilla zones, where the NPAs have considerable influence or that they are able to maneuver politically and militarily.
The anniversary statement of the CPP speaks of building stable base areas where comprehensive political and military work can be undertaken on a regular basis, and where government troops can hardly penetrate. These areas are supposed to begin implementing political and economic development processes approximating the Chinese experience of maintaining independent zones of the revolution. The same intent was indicated in a Memorandum from the Central Committee addressed to the regional and front committees entitled “Dare to Frustrate the Government’s OPLAN BANTAY LAYA II”.
The importance of guerilla fronts to the CPP-NPAs national democratic revolution is such that its dismantling means crippling the revolutionary machinery. When guerilla fronts are dismantled, the potency of the CPPs military capacity is significantly reduced, that is why the defense of each guerilla front is a life-and-death issue for the communist terrorist movement.
The CPP-NPA in Northern Mindanao
Northern Mindanao, as defined by the Communist Party of the Philippines, consists of some parts of Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, and some parts of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur. These areas comprise the Area of Responsibility of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee of the CPP. Lanao del Norte used to be part of the Central Mindanao Region. But after the debilitating split in 1992 until 1994, where the whole Regional Committee was practically expelled from the CPP by virtue of their rejection of the calls for rectification, part of Lanao del Norte was integrated into the Northern Mindanao thus re-naming the regional committee of the CPP-NPA into the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee.
It is important to point out that no other organization in the Philippines, other than the CPP, that has the same definition of territory such as the Northern Mindanao or Greater Northern Mindanao Region.
The region has four (4) Guerilla Fronts (GF), namely: GF-6, GF-89, GF-88, GF-4A. There guerilla fronts are responsible for many atrocities including the raids of the Municipality of Carmen, the City Jail in Malaybalay, and the Zamboanguita Patrol Base that left them with 13 dead combatants, and several other so-called tactical offensives. These fronts have also initiated extortion through the forcible collection of so-called revolutionary taxes that are never reported to the people in terms of how they are spent, and who benefits from the taxation proceeds.
(Map showing the guerilla fronts and guerilla bases of the CPP-NPA within 4ID’s AOR)
As shown in the map, the guerilla fronts under the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee are located in the mountains of Valencia and Maramag, San Fernando, Quezon, Malaybalay, Cabanglasan, Impasug-ong, and parts of Misamis Oriental such as Gingoog, Esperanza and La Paz in Agusan del Sur, and Butuan in Agusan del Norte.
After several years of encounters with the NPA, and after several years where the NPAs would launch tactical offensives, it would be impossible not to pin down with accuracy the base of operations of these terrorists, as well as the seat of power of their leading party organs such as the front committees and the regional committees. These are of course confirmed by the revelations of rebel returnees as well as people from the communities who have long been complaining about the terrifying presence of the CPPs red fighters in their areas.
One of the reasons why the particular communities organized into guerilla bases were identified is the fact that the CPP-NPA themselves would establish a recurring pattern of attack and retreat, thus allowing government troops to trace their base of operation. Of course, other sources and means of determining their guerilla bases are also being utilized such as modern communication technology and other similar gadgets, but the primary sources of reliable information are the practical activities of the terrorists themselves.
Considering the AFPs mission as mandated by the Constitution and by the government through the periodically-formulated National Internal Security Plan, it is imperative upon the Philippine Army to do its job relative to the marching orders of defeating the CPP-NPA. It is upon this premise that the deployment of troops in identified communities become necessary.
It would be a waste of government resources if troops are deployed in areas without any reason at all. Whenever decisions are made relative to the disposition of troops, these decisions are always based on sound judgment such as identified areas where enemy presence is confirmed not only by the AFPs intelligence operatives, but by the local communities and their institutions, and through the patterns established by the enemy. For instance, the reason why troops are deployed in Zamboanguita and St. Peter is the fact that through the years, the NPAs tactical offensives were staged from these areas and in these areas. Moreover, rebel returnees and community people have also pointed out that the CPP-NPAs politico-military structures are well-entrenched in their communities, thus giving the 4th Infantry Division a considerable information that could guide its operations.
Status of the Guerilla Fronts Under NCMRC
In recent months, the Internal Security Operation of the 4th Infantry (DIAMOND) Division has gained significant headway as shown in the number of firearms recovered, number of camps overran, the number of neutralized CPP-NPA leaders such as Alfredo Mapano A.K.A. Pares, and the number of NPA regulars and Milisya ng Bayan who surrendered to government authorities. If there is anything that this trend indicate, it is that the guerilla bases are declining, the level of support of the masses have been eroded, and the morale of NPA fighters have become so low that week after week, surrender feelers are received by government authorities and Philippine Army officers and troops.
Among the guerilla fronts under the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee, Front 89 has been the most badly affected. Within the last 4 months, 64 individuals from among NPA regulars and Milisya ng Bayan have surrendered. What makes this development extremely important relative to the objectives of the Internal Security Operation is that the surrender of Milisya ng Bayan members means the liberation of communities from the control and manipulation of the CPP-NPA. The mass surrender of NPAs and Milisya ng Bayan from Cabanglasan and Malaybalay were an indication that the people has finally abandoned and rejected the violent revolution of the CPP-NPA. Their coming back into the fold of the law signifies the erosion of the CPP-NPAs control over certain communities and territories, thus curtailing their freedom of movement, and significantly reducing their sources of goods for their subsistence.
It is when such things occur that demoralization intensifies within the ranks of NPA guerillas.
On top of that, the capture of Alfredo Mapano A.K.A. Ka Pares, has brought a major blow to the organizational strength of the communist terrorist movement because Ka Pares was no ordinary cadre. He was the Secretary of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee at the time of his arrest.
As per narratives from rebel returnees, the situation confronting the NPA guerillas under NCMRC is characterized by hunger and diseases such as typhoid and malaria. Hungry as they are, the NPAs are also forced to be always on the run because community people and government troops have begun to work together to finally get rid of these terrorists from the hinterland communities.
This reinforces the situation of intense demoralization. This explains the serious decline. And these would trigger another series of surrenders from among the hungry and sick rebels.
The Accusations
Various groups including church organizations, a human rights group, and party-list forces have took turns in lambasting the Philippine Army for terrorizing communities. They have accused government troops of human rights violations such as extended presence in Indigenous People’s communities and forcing several persons to surrender.
As pointed out in some of the basic documents of a human rights mission that visited the hinterland communities in Agusan del Sur and Bukidnon, the 4th Infantry Division is guilty of human rights violations including the forced surrender of 64 individuals and the formation of Barangay Defense System.
These accusations do not seem to correlate with the actual situation in the communities. In Canangaan, Cabanglasan for instance, the community people actually surrendered en masse to the 403rd Brigade, asking for help as they began to discard and denounce the violence and manipulation of the CPP-NPA. As a result, the community, with the support of the Philippine Army field units and the Local Government and Government Line Agencies, have begun to chart a more productive and peaceful path towards liberating themselves from poverty.
The Canangaan Literacy School was revived with soldiers as teachers. A farm-to-market road was constructed so that the people may now be able to transport their produce to the nearest market. And several other projects are about to be launched by the local government.
In St. Peter and Zamboanguita, several NPA regulars and MB members also surrendered to the Local Government Unit and has now begun their re-integration back into the mainstream by initiating ventures that will make their lives productive. These rebel returnees, about 28 of them, were the beneficiaries of the recently launched City Social Integration Program of the City Government of Malaybalay. Among those who surrendered, not a single person was forced. In fact, they surrendered because of issues ranging from fatigue, serious illness, hunger, and internal organizational processes within the CPP-NPA that they found to be repressive and exploitative.
One set of rebel returnees also returned to the fold of the law after having realized that within the CPP-NPA, justice is a matter that is practically at the discretion of the party leadership. One rape victim and her husband voluntarily surrendered because they realized that the CPP’s decision over the case was most unfair to the victim and her family, and that the guilty party was only meted with minor disciplinary action. Their surrender triggered their relatives and comrades to also lay down their arms.
In all the cases of surrenders over the last several months, not a single person was forced by any of the civilian government authorities, nor were they coerced by government troops. Their testimonies and revelations are proof that their surrender is voluntary, and that a major factor is the futility of the armed struggle. From among those who surrendered, majority has indicated that after several years of fighting, they have realized that the armed revolution has no chances of winning.
They came and were rejected; not once, but twice!
As a result of the massive disinformation campaign initiated by the CPP-NPA in North Central Mindanao, some well-meaning organizations were lured into conducting a human rights mission to find out whether the issues implicating the 4th Infantry Division in several human rights violations issues were true.
The mission went to Agusan del Sur and Bukidnon.
In Cabanglasan, they intended to visit Canangaan but the Municipal Mayor did not allow them to go into the place. In Malaybalay City, having secured the City Mayor’s nod, they went to Zamboanguita and St. Peter.
The mission participants contended that they were to provide medical assistance to 20 sick persons from Sitio Balaudo who would come down to Sitio Mahayag in Barangay St. Peter. In their basic documents, they claimed that around 3,000 individuals need food assistance as they had been deprived of food as a result of the military’s presence in the communities.
(The people’s barricade mounted in St. Peter, Malaybalay City. Leaders of the Human Rights Mission including religious nuns representing the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and the Sisters Association in Mindanao together with Clergy from the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, and representatives of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines in a dialogue with the Barangay Officials of St. Peter who led the People’s Barricade. They asked to enter, the people said NO.)
But the residents of St. Peter led by their Barangay Council and Barangay Chairman Domingo Hingpit prevented the mission participants to proceed to their destination. They barricaded the road, and told the mission participants that they are tired of having been used in the past as the CPP-NPAs mass base.
The Tribal Chieftain of Sitio Mahayag, Datu Oscar Aninayon, was also present in the barricade. He was one of those who do not want the mission to get into their place because aside from the fact that he was not informed of the mission, he was not also aware about the sick people coming into their Sitio. Besides, several years of serving as pawns in an extremely protracted war has taught him that allowing other organizations to use their community beyond their own interests is counter-productive to their own peace, and erodes the possibilities of their own development.
Because the people rejected the mission’s offer of assistance, the mission participants went back to Malaybalay City but only to decide to go back to St. Peter the following day for a chance to get into their identified communities. Again, the people did not allow them.
Twice, the mission came. Twice, they were rejected. The people have spoken. Their actions say it all.
Too Much of a Coincidence
During the visit of the human rights mission in Malaybalay, members of the 8th Infantry Battalion also over-run an encampment in St. Peter last December 1, 2009. They found explosives and other supplies in the said encampment, including eleven (11) anti-personnel mines, 14 sticks of super dyne explosives premium, 15 meters of detonation cord, 25 liters of gasoline, and two containers of rice containing 45 kilograms each.
Informants of the 8th IB also saw more or less 25 NPAs in Sitio Balaudo, St. Peter. As mentioned earlier, the human rights mission were expecting 20 sick people from Sitio Balaudo.
Could it be that the sighted NPAs were to converged with the mission participants in the discovered encampment which had approximately 1,000 square meters of land area? Could it be that the so-called sick persons were actually NPAs who have been suffering from several diseases because of hunger and other factors?
This could just be a hypothetical question, considering that those who joined the mission were legal organizations who could have been mobilized on the basis of the CPP-NPAs disinformation campaign. But the coincidence is too much.
Why Human Rights Groups and Sectoral Organizations Should Think Twice
Given the situation in the area, and considering how manipulative the CPP-NPA could become when what is at stake is their guerilla fronts, human rights groups and other sectoral and multi-sectoral organizations should think twice before engaging in a serious campaign whose key feature is to denounce the government, and accuse the military of human rights violations that cannot be ascertained or confirmed by the people.
The intention of these groups who compose the human rights mission are commendable considering that they came to see to it that not a single person is being subjected to abuse and exploitation by the government. Such actions are within the parameters of the law, and are purely humanitarian in nature.
But now that they had been prevented by the people themselves, and having seen for themselves the people’s reactions, they should at least realize that the CPP-NPA have been using them and risking their security, simply because the communist terrorists want to re-gain control over their guerilla base, or that they want to use the presence of these organizations to boost the morale of the NPA fighters, and thus prevent further demoralization resulting from extreme hardships in the countryside.
Moreover, legal organizations should at least check whether the presence of soldiers in the communities is to terrorize people, or whether they are responding to the clamor of local communities for security assistance considering that the said communities are indeed frequently visited by the NPAs and the CPP organizers and cadres.
Many groups and organizations may find it easy to bring out issues against the Armed Forces. But the fact is that the reason for the deployment of troops in the communities is the very presence of NPA guerillas. While the ignorance of these organizations about the existence of guerilla bases and guerilla fronts may be considered, their tendency to immediately accuse the military of abuses simply because they are present in the hinterland communities is quite incomprehensible. If they are saying that the military should leave the NPAs alone, and simply allow the NPAs to ambush government troops, harass communities, force business firms to pay revolutionary taxes, and liquidate individuals who do not toe their line, such demands can never be accommodated precisely because that is tantamount to destroying the very foundation of a liberal democratic society such as the Philippines.
The value of human rights advocacy in a democracy is such that without it, democracy may not work. But such advocacy should be anchored on standards founded on real concern for humanity and not simply premised on certain ideological platform and persuasion. This should entail that when either the military or the NPAs liquidate innocent civilians simply because of ideological and political differences, the same degree of condemnation should be made. When either the military or the NPA has caused the death of innocent civilians, or caused the destruction of properties, the same level of denunciation should be heard. To resort in double-standard and double-speak reduce human rights advocacy to a mere propaganda, or a weapon to advance certain political movements. Besides, ambivalent position and parameters relative to the defense, promotion and protection of human rights degenerate the essential element of human rights, and degrade humanity to mere objects of political warfare.
To be a human rights advocate is noble only insofar as the advocacy goes beyond political boundaries, and only when the ultimate intent is to promote solidarity so that all humans may be kept away from conditions of discrimination, exploitation, and manipulation.
There is a national campaign being pursued by the CPP-NPA-NDF that seek to mobilize well-meaning organizations and groups, some of them traditionally categorized as cause-oriented, around the issue of human rights violations against innocent civilians and IP communities. The said human rights violations were allegedly perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines particularly the troops from the Philippine Army.
The whole campaign is no less than the propaganda and mobilization dimension of the CPP-NPAs general line of march against the government’s Internal Security Operations aimed at bringing them to an inconsequential level by 2010. As per Memorandum of the Central Committee of the CPP addressed to all regional committees, they intend to frustrate the government’s all-out campaign to defeat the insurgency by utilizing all forms of struggle, including the mobilization of legal organizations through sustained campaigns and mass struggles. The same intent is reflected in the Anniversary Statement of the CPP as published in Ang Bayan—the CPPs official publication as well as in the REBOLUSYON—the party’s theoretical journal.
The mobilization of these cause-oriented organizations is unfortunate. Unaware of the real motives behind the campaign, legitimate organizations and church-based groups and institutions have come to the forefront of hurling a range of accusations against the Philippine Army. This is being done against the 4th Infantry Division’s field units in Northern Mindanao and in the CARAGA Region; first in the Andap Valley Complex, which is the base of operation of Guerilla Fronts 19A and 19B under the North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee (NEMRC), and lately, in the Agusan del Sur, Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon area particularly in the areas comprising the tri-boundary of Guerilla Front 4A, Guerilla Front 89 and Guerilla Front 88 of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
While every effort at promoting and defending human rights is a welcome initiative considering its importance in the theory and practice of democracy, deliberate subversion of the truth and the circumvention of facts does not only undermine democracy; it destroys the very essence of human rights.
This Briefing Paper shall attempt to illustrate how the CPP-NPA has manipulated and deceived several institutions and legal organizations by providing them with wrong information and unfounded issues meant primarily to make the government illegitimate. As a result, these organizations were compelled to undertake actions that bring them to a difficult and awkward situation such as denouncing military presence in identified and confirmed guerilla bases where the CPP-NPA has repeatedly launched several tactical offensives against government troops, insinuating that the military should leave the NPAs alone. These actions usually take the shape of a national or regional or provincial campaigns, the central theme of which is the accusation that the government has terrorized its own people; that soldiers are fabricating issues to pin down certain individuals and force them to surrender, and issues of extra-judicial killings.
Aside from showing how the CPP-NPA drumbeats its propaganda offensive as part of its campaign to frustrate the government’s drive, this briefing paper shall also show that in several communities and areas within the Area of Responsibility of the 4th Infantry Division, the people themselves, together with their Local Government officials, are struggling to manifest their rejection of the violence and deception of the CPP-NPA-NDF. The people’s actions are but indicative of their realization that 41 years of being manipulated and exploited by a self-righteous and arrogant CPP-NPA is enough.
The CPP-NPA and The Guerilla Fronts
The Communist Party of the Philippines is organized into cells, party branches, party conferences, committees, and bureaus. Its highest governing body is the Party Congress represented by the Central Committee (CC) in between congresses. Running the day to day affairs is the Executive Committee (CC-EC) and assisted by island-wide commands, staff organs and commissions, regional and provincial committees, and front committees. Specific committees undertaking work in the urban centers are called White Area Committees.
The most visible expression of the CPPs protracted war is the New People’s Army organized into different layers of command. The leadership of the CPP over the NPA is exercised through the regional committees at the regional level, and front committees at the level of guerilla fronts.
The guerilla fronts are the CPP-NPA’s tactical units in-charge in the conduct of a range of political and military activities including community organizing and base building, tactical offensives, and collection of revolutionary taxes. They also engage in production activities and enterprise ventures using community organizations as dummies. They generate resources by collecting monthly dues (BUTAW) from community residents, pledges and donations from allies, and “revolutionary taxes” from business firms operating within their area of operation.
Within guerilla fronts are particular communities organized and categorized according to their level of development. The center of operation of the party is in the so-called guerilla bases, where the CPP-NPAs politico-military structure are well-established, and where residents are organized into different mass organizations, recruited as NPA regulars, or organized as People’s Militia (Milisya ng Bayan). In the guerilla base, Party Branches are duly established, and so-called organs of political power are organized to exercise governance and administrative function. The area where the guerilla bases are located are called guerilla zones, where the NPAs have considerable influence or that they are able to maneuver politically and militarily.
The anniversary statement of the CPP speaks of building stable base areas where comprehensive political and military work can be undertaken on a regular basis, and where government troops can hardly penetrate. These areas are supposed to begin implementing political and economic development processes approximating the Chinese experience of maintaining independent zones of the revolution. The same intent was indicated in a Memorandum from the Central Committee addressed to the regional and front committees entitled “Dare to Frustrate the Government’s OPLAN BANTAY LAYA II”.
The importance of guerilla fronts to the CPP-NPAs national democratic revolution is such that its dismantling means crippling the revolutionary machinery. When guerilla fronts are dismantled, the potency of the CPPs military capacity is significantly reduced, that is why the defense of each guerilla front is a life-and-death issue for the communist terrorist movement.
The CPP-NPA in Northern Mindanao
Northern Mindanao, as defined by the Communist Party of the Philippines, consists of some parts of Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, and some parts of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur. These areas comprise the Area of Responsibility of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee of the CPP. Lanao del Norte used to be part of the Central Mindanao Region. But after the debilitating split in 1992 until 1994, where the whole Regional Committee was practically expelled from the CPP by virtue of their rejection of the calls for rectification, part of Lanao del Norte was integrated into the Northern Mindanao thus re-naming the regional committee of the CPP-NPA into the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee.
It is important to point out that no other organization in the Philippines, other than the CPP, that has the same definition of territory such as the Northern Mindanao or Greater Northern Mindanao Region.
The region has four (4) Guerilla Fronts (GF), namely: GF-6, GF-89, GF-88, GF-4A. There guerilla fronts are responsible for many atrocities including the raids of the Municipality of Carmen, the City Jail in Malaybalay, and the Zamboanguita Patrol Base that left them with 13 dead combatants, and several other so-called tactical offensives. These fronts have also initiated extortion through the forcible collection of so-called revolutionary taxes that are never reported to the people in terms of how they are spent, and who benefits from the taxation proceeds.
(Map showing the guerilla fronts and guerilla bases of the CPP-NPA within 4ID’s AOR)
As shown in the map, the guerilla fronts under the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee are located in the mountains of Valencia and Maramag, San Fernando, Quezon, Malaybalay, Cabanglasan, Impasug-ong, and parts of Misamis Oriental such as Gingoog, Esperanza and La Paz in Agusan del Sur, and Butuan in Agusan del Norte.
After several years of encounters with the NPA, and after several years where the NPAs would launch tactical offensives, it would be impossible not to pin down with accuracy the base of operations of these terrorists, as well as the seat of power of their leading party organs such as the front committees and the regional committees. These are of course confirmed by the revelations of rebel returnees as well as people from the communities who have long been complaining about the terrifying presence of the CPPs red fighters in their areas.
One of the reasons why the particular communities organized into guerilla bases were identified is the fact that the CPP-NPA themselves would establish a recurring pattern of attack and retreat, thus allowing government troops to trace their base of operation. Of course, other sources and means of determining their guerilla bases are also being utilized such as modern communication technology and other similar gadgets, but the primary sources of reliable information are the practical activities of the terrorists themselves.
Considering the AFPs mission as mandated by the Constitution and by the government through the periodically-formulated National Internal Security Plan, it is imperative upon the Philippine Army to do its job relative to the marching orders of defeating the CPP-NPA. It is upon this premise that the deployment of troops in identified communities become necessary.
It would be a waste of government resources if troops are deployed in areas without any reason at all. Whenever decisions are made relative to the disposition of troops, these decisions are always based on sound judgment such as identified areas where enemy presence is confirmed not only by the AFPs intelligence operatives, but by the local communities and their institutions, and through the patterns established by the enemy. For instance, the reason why troops are deployed in Zamboanguita and St. Peter is the fact that through the years, the NPAs tactical offensives were staged from these areas and in these areas. Moreover, rebel returnees and community people have also pointed out that the CPP-NPAs politico-military structures are well-entrenched in their communities, thus giving the 4th Infantry Division a considerable information that could guide its operations.
Status of the Guerilla Fronts Under NCMRC
In recent months, the Internal Security Operation of the 4th Infantry (DIAMOND) Division has gained significant headway as shown in the number of firearms recovered, number of camps overran, the number of neutralized CPP-NPA leaders such as Alfredo Mapano A.K.A. Pares, and the number of NPA regulars and Milisya ng Bayan who surrendered to government authorities. If there is anything that this trend indicate, it is that the guerilla bases are declining, the level of support of the masses have been eroded, and the morale of NPA fighters have become so low that week after week, surrender feelers are received by government authorities and Philippine Army officers and troops.
Among the guerilla fronts under the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee, Front 89 has been the most badly affected. Within the last 4 months, 64 individuals from among NPA regulars and Milisya ng Bayan have surrendered. What makes this development extremely important relative to the objectives of the Internal Security Operation is that the surrender of Milisya ng Bayan members means the liberation of communities from the control and manipulation of the CPP-NPA. The mass surrender of NPAs and Milisya ng Bayan from Cabanglasan and Malaybalay were an indication that the people has finally abandoned and rejected the violent revolution of the CPP-NPA. Their coming back into the fold of the law signifies the erosion of the CPP-NPAs control over certain communities and territories, thus curtailing their freedom of movement, and significantly reducing their sources of goods for their subsistence.
It is when such things occur that demoralization intensifies within the ranks of NPA guerillas.
On top of that, the capture of Alfredo Mapano A.K.A. Ka Pares, has brought a major blow to the organizational strength of the communist terrorist movement because Ka Pares was no ordinary cadre. He was the Secretary of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee at the time of his arrest.
As per narratives from rebel returnees, the situation confronting the NPA guerillas under NCMRC is characterized by hunger and diseases such as typhoid and malaria. Hungry as they are, the NPAs are also forced to be always on the run because community people and government troops have begun to work together to finally get rid of these terrorists from the hinterland communities.
This reinforces the situation of intense demoralization. This explains the serious decline. And these would trigger another series of surrenders from among the hungry and sick rebels.
The Accusations
Various groups including church organizations, a human rights group, and party-list forces have took turns in lambasting the Philippine Army for terrorizing communities. They have accused government troops of human rights violations such as extended presence in Indigenous People’s communities and forcing several persons to surrender.
As pointed out in some of the basic documents of a human rights mission that visited the hinterland communities in Agusan del Sur and Bukidnon, the 4th Infantry Division is guilty of human rights violations including the forced surrender of 64 individuals and the formation of Barangay Defense System.
These accusations do not seem to correlate with the actual situation in the communities. In Canangaan, Cabanglasan for instance, the community people actually surrendered en masse to the 403rd Brigade, asking for help as they began to discard and denounce the violence and manipulation of the CPP-NPA. As a result, the community, with the support of the Philippine Army field units and the Local Government and Government Line Agencies, have begun to chart a more productive and peaceful path towards liberating themselves from poverty.
The Canangaan Literacy School was revived with soldiers as teachers. A farm-to-market road was constructed so that the people may now be able to transport their produce to the nearest market. And several other projects are about to be launched by the local government.
In St. Peter and Zamboanguita, several NPA regulars and MB members also surrendered to the Local Government Unit and has now begun their re-integration back into the mainstream by initiating ventures that will make their lives productive. These rebel returnees, about 28 of them, were the beneficiaries of the recently launched City Social Integration Program of the City Government of Malaybalay. Among those who surrendered, not a single person was forced. In fact, they surrendered because of issues ranging from fatigue, serious illness, hunger, and internal organizational processes within the CPP-NPA that they found to be repressive and exploitative.
One set of rebel returnees also returned to the fold of the law after having realized that within the CPP-NPA, justice is a matter that is practically at the discretion of the party leadership. One rape victim and her husband voluntarily surrendered because they realized that the CPP’s decision over the case was most unfair to the victim and her family, and that the guilty party was only meted with minor disciplinary action. Their surrender triggered their relatives and comrades to also lay down their arms.
In all the cases of surrenders over the last several months, not a single person was forced by any of the civilian government authorities, nor were they coerced by government troops. Their testimonies and revelations are proof that their surrender is voluntary, and that a major factor is the futility of the armed struggle. From among those who surrendered, majority has indicated that after several years of fighting, they have realized that the armed revolution has no chances of winning.
They came and were rejected; not once, but twice!
As a result of the massive disinformation campaign initiated by the CPP-NPA in North Central Mindanao, some well-meaning organizations were lured into conducting a human rights mission to find out whether the issues implicating the 4th Infantry Division in several human rights violations issues were true.
The mission went to Agusan del Sur and Bukidnon.
In Cabanglasan, they intended to visit Canangaan but the Municipal Mayor did not allow them to go into the place. In Malaybalay City, having secured the City Mayor’s nod, they went to Zamboanguita and St. Peter.
The mission participants contended that they were to provide medical assistance to 20 sick persons from Sitio Balaudo who would come down to Sitio Mahayag in Barangay St. Peter. In their basic documents, they claimed that around 3,000 individuals need food assistance as they had been deprived of food as a result of the military’s presence in the communities.
(The people’s barricade mounted in St. Peter, Malaybalay City. Leaders of the Human Rights Mission including religious nuns representing the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and the Sisters Association in Mindanao together with Clergy from the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, and representatives of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines in a dialogue with the Barangay Officials of St. Peter who led the People’s Barricade. They asked to enter, the people said NO.)
But the residents of St. Peter led by their Barangay Council and Barangay Chairman Domingo Hingpit prevented the mission participants to proceed to their destination. They barricaded the road, and told the mission participants that they are tired of having been used in the past as the CPP-NPAs mass base.
The Tribal Chieftain of Sitio Mahayag, Datu Oscar Aninayon, was also present in the barricade. He was one of those who do not want the mission to get into their place because aside from the fact that he was not informed of the mission, he was not also aware about the sick people coming into their Sitio. Besides, several years of serving as pawns in an extremely protracted war has taught him that allowing other organizations to use their community beyond their own interests is counter-productive to their own peace, and erodes the possibilities of their own development.
Because the people rejected the mission’s offer of assistance, the mission participants went back to Malaybalay City but only to decide to go back to St. Peter the following day for a chance to get into their identified communities. Again, the people did not allow them.
Twice, the mission came. Twice, they were rejected. The people have spoken. Their actions say it all.
Too Much of a Coincidence
During the visit of the human rights mission in Malaybalay, members of the 8th Infantry Battalion also over-run an encampment in St. Peter last December 1, 2009. They found explosives and other supplies in the said encampment, including eleven (11) anti-personnel mines, 14 sticks of super dyne explosives premium, 15 meters of detonation cord, 25 liters of gasoline, and two containers of rice containing 45 kilograms each.
Informants of the 8th IB also saw more or less 25 NPAs in Sitio Balaudo, St. Peter. As mentioned earlier, the human rights mission were expecting 20 sick people from Sitio Balaudo.
Could it be that the sighted NPAs were to converged with the mission participants in the discovered encampment which had approximately 1,000 square meters of land area? Could it be that the so-called sick persons were actually NPAs who have been suffering from several diseases because of hunger and other factors?
This could just be a hypothetical question, considering that those who joined the mission were legal organizations who could have been mobilized on the basis of the CPP-NPAs disinformation campaign. But the coincidence is too much.
Why Human Rights Groups and Sectoral Organizations Should Think Twice
Given the situation in the area, and considering how manipulative the CPP-NPA could become when what is at stake is their guerilla fronts, human rights groups and other sectoral and multi-sectoral organizations should think twice before engaging in a serious campaign whose key feature is to denounce the government, and accuse the military of human rights violations that cannot be ascertained or confirmed by the people.
The intention of these groups who compose the human rights mission are commendable considering that they came to see to it that not a single person is being subjected to abuse and exploitation by the government. Such actions are within the parameters of the law, and are purely humanitarian in nature.
But now that they had been prevented by the people themselves, and having seen for themselves the people’s reactions, they should at least realize that the CPP-NPA have been using them and risking their security, simply because the communist terrorists want to re-gain control over their guerilla base, or that they want to use the presence of these organizations to boost the morale of the NPA fighters, and thus prevent further demoralization resulting from extreme hardships in the countryside.
Moreover, legal organizations should at least check whether the presence of soldiers in the communities is to terrorize people, or whether they are responding to the clamor of local communities for security assistance considering that the said communities are indeed frequently visited by the NPAs and the CPP organizers and cadres.
Many groups and organizations may find it easy to bring out issues against the Armed Forces. But the fact is that the reason for the deployment of troops in the communities is the very presence of NPA guerillas. While the ignorance of these organizations about the existence of guerilla bases and guerilla fronts may be considered, their tendency to immediately accuse the military of abuses simply because they are present in the hinterland communities is quite incomprehensible. If they are saying that the military should leave the NPAs alone, and simply allow the NPAs to ambush government troops, harass communities, force business firms to pay revolutionary taxes, and liquidate individuals who do not toe their line, such demands can never be accommodated precisely because that is tantamount to destroying the very foundation of a liberal democratic society such as the Philippines.
The value of human rights advocacy in a democracy is such that without it, democracy may not work. But such advocacy should be anchored on standards founded on real concern for humanity and not simply premised on certain ideological platform and persuasion. This should entail that when either the military or the NPAs liquidate innocent civilians simply because of ideological and political differences, the same degree of condemnation should be made. When either the military or the NPA has caused the death of innocent civilians, or caused the destruction of properties, the same level of denunciation should be heard. To resort in double-standard and double-speak reduce human rights advocacy to a mere propaganda, or a weapon to advance certain political movements. Besides, ambivalent position and parameters relative to the defense, promotion and protection of human rights degenerate the essential element of human rights, and degrade humanity to mere objects of political warfare.
To be a human rights advocate is noble only insofar as the advocacy goes beyond political boundaries, and only when the ultimate intent is to promote solidarity so that all humans may be kept away from conditions of discrimination, exploitation, and manipulation.
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