The Armed Forces of the Philippines admitted yesterday that the all out war against the New People’s Army would not be easy.
Marine Col. Edgard Arevalo, chief of the AFP-Public Affairs Office, in a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, said defeating the enemy won’t be an easy task especially if they are holding on to communities to survive.
“This is not going to be an easy one. It’s not easy to fight your own people. It’s not easy to fight the NPA rebels who are trying to hold on communities,” Arevalo said.
“But for all intents and purposes, if we are to attain a lasting peace, if we are to end this particular war that we have been fighting for more than four decades now, then we have to defeat them and their capabilities and all other aspects of,” he said.
Arevalo said now that government has declared an all-out war against communist rebels, the AFP’s main focus will be in Northeastern Mindanao where the concentration of the CPP-NPA is located.
“Our current concentration will be in Northeastern Mindanao. But there is no need to add additional troops at least as of today to augment our personnel currently operating there,” Arevalo said. (Francis T. Wakefield)