Cebu: Leading the way vs. CPP/NPA insurgency

It is always a heartening sight seeing photos of members of the New People’s Army (NPA) surrendering firearms to the military. This proves that the Central Command’s “Balik-Baril Program” that virtually “buys” the firearms used by the former NPAs is working very well. Two former supports of the Communist underground movement, Roy Pautan and Dioscoro Pasaje Jr. gave up their World War I Springfield .30 caliber rifles to Central Command (CentCom) Commander Lt. Gen. Pedro Inserto in a simple ceremony.

The publication of this surrender ceremony sends shivers down the spine of those Communist members who know these two men, because they know that in due time, they too will be identified by military intelligence teams and eventually killed or captured. On the other side of the coin, the two men who surrendered their firearms should also be fearful of their lives. The hierarchy of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing the NPA would never rest until they exact their vengeance on those who were once with their “Kalihukan” or their organization.

Only God knows how many Naps suspected of being military assets have been killed in the last 20 years because they were “purged” and summarily executed by their field commanders under the strict orders of who else, but their supreme, Jose Maria “Joma” Sison. The mass graves in Inopacan, Leyte is clear proof that such purges have been implemented with extreme prejudice.

Recently, the mountains of Gaas, Balamban have also revealed skeletal remains of suspected military assets. Last Monday, Pastor Alcover Jr. launched a book that details the crimes that the Communists committed in Cebu in the last 20 years.

I remember 20 years ago, long before the Transcentral Highway was even conceived, together with my anti-com partner Cerge M. Remonde and then Gen. Edgardo Abenina of then RECOM 7 would fly to Gaas and do a re-indoctrination of the peasants. I’m sure those who listened and believed in us were targeted by the NPA and many suddenly vanished only to surface 20 years later, proof that the NPA is nothing but a murderous bunch of people.

The Province of Cebu has enjoyed relative peace as far as communist insurgency is concerned because the Cebu media helps fight insurgency, telling people about the evils of Communism. Add the full support of Gov. Gwen F. Garcia, who declared “all-out war” against the insurgency; it virtually forced the scattered elements of the NPA further underground and into petty criminality.

I congratulate Gov. Gwen Garcia, chairperson of the Regional Peace and Order Council-VII (RPOC) for being adjudged as the Best Regional Peace and Order Council for CY 2008 signed by Department of Interior and Local Government (DILF) Secretary Ronaldo Puno, who is also concurrently the national chairman of all the National Peace and Order Councils in the Philippines. That Gov. Gwen is the first LGU head to declare an all-out war against communist terrorists proves that women can do the job that we always thought that men ought to be doing.

I don’t know if any other Local Chief Executive has followed Gov. Gwen’s call three years ago. Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) also declared an all-out war against the communists; after all, this insurgency have taken too long to quell and took many lives of innocent people.

But what’s very commendable in the Province of Cebu was that, when Gov. Gwen made that historic declaration, the usual noisy left-leaning supporters of the CPP-NPA declared that blood will flow in the streets of Cebu. Well, those comments were mere scare tactics that proved the leftists wrong. Since that declaration, there were no armed encounters that happened in the Province of Cebu. Of course, suspected NPA rebels were caught in Talisay City for extortion raps, while another bunch were caught in Oslob, including Mr. Alex Hugo, who went underground after leading the militant jeepney drivers into an economically crippling jeepney strikes in Cebu City.

Gov. Gwen attributes this success in our peace and order campaign through her, “Not by bullets alone, but a holistic strategy in addressing the roots of the problem.” That means economic and social services must be delivered by the local government in order to counter the insurgency problem. This is the core of Gov. Gwen’s good governance, the same good governance that Bohol Gov. Enrico Aumentado also practiced that resulted in the waning of the Communist insurgency in Bohol. Kudos to all of them!