Director General Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, PNP chief (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the creation of a special team of seasoned and retired policemen that would brief younger officers on the operations of hit squads purportedly being fielded by the New People’s Army (NPA), Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Dir. Gen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa disclosed on Thursday.
According to Dela Rosa, the 10-member team was commissioned by Mr. President to conduct reorientation of police officers against the NPA’s so-called Special Partisan Armed Revolutionary Unit (Sparu). The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
“Meron kaming mga seasoned, retired police officers na kinomisyon ni Presidente mismo para mag-orient ng mga batang officers na kulang na sa exposure laban sa insurgency,” Dela Rosa said in a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
(We have seasoned, retired police officers commissioned by no less than the President to orient younger officers who lack exposure on insurgency.)
During the PNP Academy graduation rites on Wednesday, Duterte claimed the Sparu has intensified their operations.
The Sparu is an infamous communist hit squad that assassinates the revolutionary movement’s adversaries and was rampant in the 1980’s.
Dela Rosa said the Sparu has stepped up its operations after the peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF) were terminated late last year.
While he did not say how many Sparu-led attacks were recorded by the PNP, Dela Rosa said the offensives were rampant in Northern Mindanao, Davao, and Caraga regions, or the areas where the NPA proliferate.
“But then again, sorry na lang sa kanila dahil mahirapan sila, unlike sa situation nung early 80’s na nahawakan talaga nila yung masa lalo na yung slum areas,” Dela Rosa said.
(But then again, I feel sorry for them because they will have a hard time now, unlike in the early 80’s wherein they got hold of the masses especially in the slum areas.)
“Pero ngayon mahirapan na sila dahil isang text lang may report na siya, hindi na siya makapagkontrol ng isang lugar,” he added. /kga