MANILA, Philippines — The number of guerrilla fronts in the country has decreased since the start of the current administration, said Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. on Tuesday.
Brawner made this pronouncement ahead of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (Sona), stating that of the 11 guerilla fronts during the start of Marcos’ term, only seven now remain.
“Out of the 11 guerilla fronts na kinukompronta pa natin since the start of the presidency of President Marcos, ngayon ay pito na lang po ang natitira,” said Brawner in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon pre-Sona special.
(Out of the 11 guerilla fronts that we are still confronting since the start of Marcos’ administration, now there are only seven left.)
READ: AFP targets to eliminate 11 remaining NPA guerrilla units by end of 2024
“So, apat na po iyong na-dismantle natin na guerilla fronts and tuluy-tuloy pa rin ho iyong ating ginagawang operations,” he added.
(So, we have already dismantled four guerilla fronts and we are still conducting operations continuously.)
According to Brawner, the AFP was also able to neutralize several high-valued individuals, some of whom died in encounters, while others surrendered.
No monitored foreign terrorists
Meanwhile, Brawner also stated that there are no longer foreign terrorists being monitored in the country.
“Sa ngayon, wala na tayong mga monitored na foreign terrorists na nandito sa ating bansa. Iyong last na dalawa po ay na-neutralize na rin natin last year kaya’t maganda na rin po iyong record natin,” said Brawner.
(Right now, we have not monitored any foreign terrorists in our country. We neutralized the last two last year, so we have a good record.)
Brawner then assured the public that the AFP remains committed to its operations against local and foreign terrorists.
He said one indicator of the AFP’s progress in its efforts is the lack of “kidnap-for-ransom” reports in the past three years.
“Hindi po katulad noong unang panahon ay marami – lalung-lalo na sa Jolo, sa Basilan maraming naki-kidnap-for-ransom, both na mga foreigners pati mga locals,” he said.
(It’s not like in the old days – where there were many cases of kidnapping-for-ransom both foreigners and locals, especially in Jolo, in Basilan.)