By MARTIN A. SADONGDONG
The military has been placed on a heightened alert this holiday season to prevent possible attacks from different local threat groups, most especially the New People’s Army (NPA), Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced Friday.
In a “Laging Handa” press briefing, Lorenzana said he instructed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to intensify its security measures to ensure the safety of the public in time for the Yuletide season and ahead of the 52nd founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on Dec. 26, a day after Christmas.
The NPA is the armed wing of the CPP.
“Paiigtingin lang siguro ng kaunti ‘yan habang papalapit ‘yung anibersaryo ng CPP sa Dec. 26 kasi ang mga ginagawa nilang mga karahasan, para siguro ipakita sa lahat ng tao na sila ay nandiyan pa at hindi pa sila nawawala,” the Defense chief said.
The military was tasked by Lorenzana to work with the police in conducting routine patrols in different places of convergence, including malls, parks, and churches. They were also told to beef up the police in security checkpoints at main thoroughfares across the country.
Lorenzana praised the decision of President Duterte to refrain from imposing a holiday ceasefire with the communist rebels unlike what he did last year when a unilateral truce was declared by the commander-in-chief.
The military refused to recommend to Duterte the declaration of a holiday truce with the CPP-NPA as they questioned the sincerity of the Reds, claiming the communist groups usually take advantage of the lull to conduct ambuscades on government troops and recruit members.
Lorenzana said the administration will continue its “whole of government” approach in dealing with the communist insurgency problem of the country through the help of local government units (LGUs) and an anti-communist task force created by Duterte, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
“Ang term na ‘all out war’ ay hindi magandang pakinggan. Ibig sabihan wala ka nangiiwan diyan. Ang iniisip namin na all out war ay ‘yung whole of government approach sa insurgency kaya nga tayo nagtatag ng NTF-ELCAC. Ito ngayon ang pinapairal natin sa buong bansa at involve lahat ng national government especially ang LGUs,” he said.
Aside from military offensives, the whole of government approach also includes the delivery of basic social services in communist-affected areas to help them develop the communities and resist the influence of rebel groups.
The Defense chief supports Duterte’s recent allegation which linked some Leftist groups and individuals to communism, saying the military has “enough basis” to prove it.
“Palagay ko naman ay mayroon kaming basehan dyan. Simula’t mula pa ay alam na namin kung sino ang nakakabit dyan sa CPPA-NPA-NDF (National Democratic Front),” Lorenzana said.
“Ginagamitan lang nila ng legal front or cover pero ang layunin nila ay tulungan ang CPP-NPA so tama si Presidente. Sinusuportahan namin ang kanyang allegation na sila ay komunista. Wala siguro kaming makitang membership card pero yung actions nila, ‘yung ginagawa nila araw araw ay nagpapatunay na sila ay miyembro ng Communist Party,” he added.
Last Nov. 30, Duterte boldly tagged Makabayan bloc party in the House of Representatives as among the alleged legal front organizations of the CPP-NPA.
“We are not red-tagging you, we are identifying you as members in a grand conspiracy comprising all the legal fronts that they have organizaed, headed by the NDF,” Duterte said.
But the Leftist groups denied the allegation of Duterte and fired back and called him the “king of red-taggers.”
“Pilit kaming pinipilayan to silence us especially in our active role bilang mga mambabatas sa loob ng Kongreso,” said Bayan Muna partylist Rep. Carlos Zarate.
