EDITORIAL - Better lives means weaker insurgency

The latest move against the communist insurgency is a call from Police Regional Office-7 director Brigadier General Ronnie Montejo for the different local government units in Central Visayas to declare members of the New People’s Army as persona non-grata.

"Akong giawhag ang tanan nga katawhan, ang mga local chief executives, gikan sa mga barangay captains, mga city and municipality mayors, nga panahon na nga magkahiusa ta, ato ni silang i-deklara nga persona non-grata," Montejo said, following the recent encounter between government troops and rebels in Santa Catalina town in Negros Oriental.

While we take issue on his use of words, because technically only the national government can brand someone, essentially an alien, as a persona non-grata, we understand what he means and what he wants to achieve.

Semantics aside, yes, we agree that different government units should declare communist insurgents as people who cannot be accepted or given sanctuary.

But for some LGUs, it is really easier said than done, especially those that are far removed from the high-urbanized and metropolitan areas, those areas where the insurgents hold sway and can easily show up at anyone’s door whenever they want to.

When the communist insurgency, the biggest thorn in the side of Philippine democracy, was just starting out decades ago, it found fertile breeding ground in areas where the basic services were lacking and where social justice was only available to those who can afford to buy it.

It also thrived in areas where local executives had no choice but to collaborate with them for the sake of their own survival, or where they totally turned a blind eye to their activities.

This is still true today.

No strategy against the communist insurgency, whether declaring them persona non-grata or throwing the full might of the military against them, will work unless coupled with changes or developments in areas that are known to be their bailiwicks.

The NPA have no strength or resources of their own, they draw from those around them that they can exploit; the more we empower or improve the lives of those people the less they will likely let themselves be exploited by rebels.