Army says NPA strength waning in Davao region

MANILA, Philippines—The military has reported a significant decline in the strength of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) in the Davao region, with the killing of 39 rebels and the arrest of 21 others as a result of law enforcement operations this year.

“Our troops have also confiscated 77 high-powered firearms and 128 improvised bombs,” said Maj. Gen. Eduardo Año, commander of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division.

Año said his unit had the upper hand in the fight against the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), crediting the civilian population for providing the military with accurate information about the presence of rebels in far-flung communities.

“Civilian tipsters are instrumental in our focused-military operations,” he said.

The Army has also recorded 142 rebel surrenderees, with 39 of them laying down their arms on Dec. 9.

All former rebels are given the chance to have a better and peaceful life under the government’s Comprehensive Local Integration Program, Año said. Each of them will receive P50,000 in livelihood assistance.

Año placed the NPA strength in the region in the third quarter of the year at 1,019 with 1,352 firearms. For the fourth quarter, he said, the numbers went down to 993 and 1,321, respectively.

The Army said it also arrested high-ranking leaders of the NPA in the region. Among them were Felix Amordia, Roy Erecre, Dominiciano Muya and Jordan Donillo, it said.

“The CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front (NDF) in the region is suffering a leadership crisis with the arrest of their well-experienced and ranking leaders,” Año said.

As a result, the NPA has resorted to recruiting out-of-school youths and college students, he said.

After reducing the communist insurgency to a manageable level, the Army and the local government of Davao have jointly declared the towns of Nabunturan in Compostela Valley province and Trento in Agusan del Sur “development-ready.”

“Both the national and local government have implemented development projects worth P573 million. The poor people in depressed areas will surely benefit from these projects that include infrastructure development and socioeconomic projects that provide income opportunities,” Año said.

The Army also pursued community services in collaboration with other stakeholders, such as Serbisyo Caravan of the Association of Regional Executives of National Agencies-XI on Nov. 30, which benefited more than 2,000 indigenous peoples in Kapalong, Davao del Norte, in terms of medical, dental and literacy outreach missions.

Año said he supported calls for the resumption of peace talks with the CPP, NPA and NDF, the party’s political arm, which have been waging an armed rebellion for more than four decades of armed violence.

“There is no real winner in this internal armed conflict so we must work together to end these bloodshed peacefully,” he said.