Police intelligence units have not monitored the presence of the infamous hit squad of the New People’s Army in any part of the country for several years, Director General Oscar Albayalde, chief of the Philippine National Police, said Saturday.
But Albayalde said President Duterte may have his own sources with regards to the continuous operations of the NPA Special Partisan Units, also known as “Sparrow Unit,” especially in areas where the communist rebels usually operate.
What they know and were able to validate, according to Albayalde, were 136 deaths being attributed to the attacks of the communist rebels in some parts of the country in the past three years.
“We have not monitored the presence of the SPARU units for a long time although there were killings recorded in the past three years,” said Albayalde in an interview over dzBB.
The SPARU gained notoriety in the 1980s for assassinations of soldiers, policemen, politicians, and businessmen whom the rebels accused of corruption and other wrongdoings. It was during the 1980s when the strength of the NPA peaked at more than 25,000.
But SPARUs began to fade away over the years as government forces have intensified its operations against the communist rebels. Based on the latest assessment, the strength of the NPA is estimated at more or less 4,000.
The discussion about SPARU was revived after Duterte threatened to create his own liquidation squad to match what he called SPARU unit operations.