Ilocos declares NPA persona non grata

REBEL CALL A group of activists joins a lightning rally in Manila urging students to go to the provinces and join the communist rebel movement. —EDWIN BACASMAS

DAGUPAN CITY — Saying communist rebels have “raped and pillaged the country,” the Ilocos region councils on peace and order and development have declared the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), as persona non grata (unwelcome person).

In their meeting on March 29 in Bauang town, La Union province, the councils passed a joint resolution after tackling the peace and order situation in the region.

The meeting was presided over by Maj. Gen. Lenard Agustin, commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division (ID) based at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija province.

Sustainable peace

In a press statement, the 7th ID said the persona non grata declaration against the NPA was the first step in realizing President Duterte’s “whole of nation approach to end the communist insurgency and attain inclusive and sustainable peace.”

The approach would cut insurgency at its roots with the support of all sectors in the community and government agencies, Agustin said.

Although the Armed Forces of the Philippines has had its own share of mistakes in the past, it has started cleaning its ranks and has taken “the road toward good governance,” he said.

Aside from updates on the insurgency situation and the May 13 midterm elections, the criminality situation and antidrug operations were also discussed in the meeting.

In Central Luzon, two local governments have declared the CPP and NPA leaders and members persona non grata.

Doña Remedios Trinidad town in Bulacan province made the declaration through a resolution on March 19, and Carranglan town in Nueva Ecija on March 25.

In separate statements, the military’s 48th and 84th Infantry Battalion (IB) said they had prodded the local governments and the municipal peace and order councils to make the declarations.

Lt. Col. Felix Emeterio Valdez, acting commander of the 48th IB, said the resolution complied with a memorandum circular of the Department of the Interior and Local Government that prohibited support to communists and Left-wing groups.

Surrender

In Southern Tagalog, at least 45 suspected NPA rebels, among them farmers and members of an indigenous peoples group, turned themselves in to authorities.

Brig. Gen. Edward Carranza, director of the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) police, said the suspected communist fighters would be referred to the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program, a rehabilitation and aid program for rebel returnees.

Carranza, in a statement, said the surrender last week was facilitated by the regional intelligence police unit and the Philippine Army.

Thirty-three rebels, under Komiteng Larangan Girilya-Cesar that operates in Laguna, Rizal, and Quezon, surrendered on March 29. Ten more, some from General Nakar in Quezon, turned themselves in on Saturday, while another two on Sunday.

Carranza said the rebels played roles as “escort, guide and runner” and provided safe houses to guerrilla forces.

“Most of them were part-time guerrilla fighters and part-time farmers,” he added. —Reports from Gabriel Cardinoza, Tonette Orejas and Maricar Cinco