New Army chief vows to support anti-insurgency efforts

MANILA, Philippines - The new chief of the 85,000-strong Philippine Army yesterday vowed to support efforts by field units to curb the decades-long insurgency in the country.

Army chief Maj. Gen. Hernando Iriberri said he would continue to implement the measures begun by his predecessor Noel Coballes, who retired from the service last Friday.

“The ones who set the operational directive are the unified commands and the GHQ (general headquarters). We will support it. We will provide the support to be able to have sustained ground operations,” Iriberri said.

When asked whether some changes would be instituted to improve the support provided to the field, Iriberri said it would depend on the “operational design.”

“If there are adjustments, we will be supporting it,” he said.

Iriberri assumed post at a crucial time when the military is seeking to end internal security operations to shift its focus on territorial defense. The Army is the largest major service in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and is the most involved in internal peace and security efforts.

While the AFP claims to have achieved gains in the fight against communist insurgency, it has yet to release information on the strength of the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels as of the end of 2013.

Last month, AFP spokesman Maj. Gen. Domingo Tutaan Jr. admitted that communist insurgency remains a “potent challenge.”

“The CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)-NPA is still the most potent challenge. It’s a challenge to security, internal security and peace efforts,” Tutaan said after a military command conference last Jan. 17.

When asked for the number of communist rebels as of last year, Tutaan said they are still checking their figures, a deviation from the AFP’s usual practice of releasing yearend updates during the first week of January.

“We are now assessing our records or our data on the matter in order to have a good picture, an accurate picture as far as their actual strength is concerned. We don’t want to have a superficial assessment on this,” he said.

Iriberri met with President Aquino immediately after he assumed his post Friday. The new Army chief, however, declined to reveal what was discussed during the meeting.

“I cannot divulge it but there were instructions discussed,” Iriberri said.

The military claims that more than 800 communist rebels surrendered or were arrested or killed as of end-2013.

The strength of the NPA has remained stagnant in recent years, remaining within or near the 4,000 mark based on military estimates.