MURCIA, Negros Occidental, Philippines – A total of 44 New People’s Army (NPA) members from the islands of Panay and Negros are now on their way back to mainstream society after laying down their arms, choosing to live a life in peace.
The numbers came out during Tuesday’s midyear assessment on the conduct of Internal Peace and Security Operations by the 3rd Infantry (Spearhead) Division, in a complementary and concerted effort with stakeholders to address the structural issues that fuel insurgency.
The snowball of surrenderees was one of the highlights of the IPSO assessment, from January to the present, where nine of the NPA rebels came from Panay, 21 from Negros Occidental and 14 from Negros Oriental. These numbers did not include NPA members who were monitored to have left the movement.
Major Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr, 3rd ID commander, said the continued influx of NPA surrenderees can be attributed to social pressure generated by the growing number of civil society groups, the clergy and local officials whose persistence in calling for peace is coupled by sustained combat operations by security forces. “The success in our IPSO is the success of our people who longed for lasting peace in this part of the country,” said Mabanta.
Mabanta likewise congratulated all brigade and battalion commanders present for the zero human rights violation in Panay and Negros islands despite massive combat operations in these areas, adding that discipline, being a soldier, is paramount for everyone. “This only shows how your Phil. Army today internalizes its moral obligation of protecting the civilians through the conduct of focused combat operations targeting only the armed NPA rebels who refused to lay down their arms,” he said.
Mabanta said the Phil. Army can always do more as the 3ID leadership revisited its plans and methods so soldiers can perform to the best of their abilities. “Knowing that pure military solution remains inadequate to address the security concerns of the country, you will see more of us, your soldiers, gathering more stakeholders as we ‘win the peace’,” he said. “A continuing consultation with stakeholders sees the declaration of Antique province as insurgency-free soon. With LGUs at the forefront, Aklan, Guimaras and Siquijor provinces continue to be insurgency-free,” he added.
The IPSO assessment also gave credit to the combined efforts of the Phil. Army and the PNP through the Joint Peace and Security Coordination Center (JPSCC) at the regional level, thus frustrating the CPP/NPA/NDF and sustaining pressure on the latter.
Last June, the 3rd ID initiated a parallel effort with the national government to restart peace talks with the CPP/NPA/NDF at the regional level, with the main reason of sparing non-combatants from armed conflicts. Despite the CPP/NPA/NDF’s rejection, the Phil. Army remained unfazed with Mabanta telling commanders to continue to reach out for a peace dialogue with the rebels for the future of Western Visayas. He also emphasized to all commanders to engage the media and speak at their own level of responsibilities.
The IPSO assessment activity also reminded that commanders must see to it that their actions continue to be in accordance with the rule of law and the International Humanitarian Law. Unit commanders were also told to prepare accordingly for the observance of the National Peace Consciousness Month in September.
Mabanta assumed the top post of the 3rd ID last February 6 and declared that he would not change any strategies, policies, and game plans that have been proven to work well in the past and had been tried and tested for years. At the helm of the 3rd ID, he said the command will adopt the mantra: “It is not the will to win that matters – everyone has that. It is the will to prepare to win that matters.”
The 3rd ID’s vision is to reduce the adversaries’ strength by 50 percent by the end of year 2013 through “Bayanihan sa Panay at Negros.” The NPA strength was 416 by end of 2011, Mabanta said.