PREPARED Chief Supt. Gilberto Cruz, Caraga regional police director (second from left), says policemen sent to augment mobile forces in the Agusan and Surigao provinces are ready to fight New People’s Army rebels. PHOTOS BY ERWIN MASCARIÑAS AND JIGGER JERUSALEM
BUTUAN CITY—At least 1,000 policemen, armed with new weapons from Israel, have been tapped to augment the police’s mobile forces and help the military pursue communist rebels in Caraga region.
“Aside from following the directive of our President, we just want to strengthen our mobile forces throughout the region, especially as the [New People’s Army] is celebrating its [50th] anniversary,” said Chief Supt. Gilberto Cruz, Caraga regional police director.
He said the first batch of newly trained policemen was activated on Dec. 20 and was sent to the provincial mobile force companies in Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Sur provinces.
Personnel from these companies were equipped with new Galil Ace 22N caliber 5.56×45 rifles from Israel, Cruz said.
Another batch was activated on Dec. 26 to augment the mobile forces in Agusan del Sur and Butuan City. They were given new Emtan MZ-4P rifles, also from Israel.
“Confronted with three regional (Communist Part of the Philippines) committees in Agusan del Sur and two committees in Butuan City, we need additional forces to ensure public safety and internal security,” Senior Supt. Jimili Macaraeg, deputy regional director for operations, said during the troops’ send-off on Wednesday.
NPA attacks
In a statement on Wednesday, the NPA disputed the military’s claim that its forces had weakened.
Norcen Manggubat, spokesperson for the NPA’s North Central Mindanao Region, said 88 soldiers were killed, while 78 others were wounded in attacks launched by communist rebels this year.
Manggubat said 16 NPA rebels died in these clashes.
She said the most recent of these attacks was on Dec. 19, when rebels took two soldiers and 12 government militiamen from a military detachment at New Tubigon village in Sibagat town, Agusan del Sur.
“The deployment of more enemy troops in the region only shows that [the Armed Forces of the Philippines] cannot underestimate the [NPA], prompting [state forces] to add three more battalions to the seven battalions [already stationed in the region] in the past year,” Manggubat said.
Surrender
Military officials have called on NPA rebels to surrender.
“Our lines of communication are also open to those who wish to take this opportunity to abandon the armed struggle and violence perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) and embrace a life of peace and prosperity with their family,” Col. Noel Detoyato, chief of the AFP’s public affairs office, said in a statement. —REPORTS FROM ERWIN MASCARIÑAS AND JIGGER JERUSALEM