Police, military ready for intensified attacks
The Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines yesterday assured that they are ready for the intensified attacks of the New People’s Army.
PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa said the police will be on “attack mode.”
“If they are going to launch more attacks, we have no choice but to defend ourselves and be on attack mode,” he said.
For his part, AFP spokesperson Colonel Edgard Arevalo said the military will continue to carry out its mandate of serving and protecting the people from such terrorists.
“That will not diminish our resolve to further enhance our services especially peace and development efforts; and infrastructure development particu- larly in the countryside,” he said.
Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Louie Villanueva said that as much as possible, they would work towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
The officials were reacting to the call of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria Sison for intensified attacks by the NPA, the party’s armed wing, to compel the government to return to the negotiating table.
“What the NPA can do in order to compel or persuade the GRP to resume the peace negotiations is to carry out successfully the announced plan of the CPP to intensify tactical offensives against armed units of the AFP, PNP and auxiliary forces,” Sison said.
He said the NPA has the ca- pacity to kill one soldier per day in each of the 17 regions. They would be able to eliminate 510 government troops or five companies each month.
However, he urged the NPA to spare the government peace negotiators out of respect for the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees ( Jasig).
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said the government was not intimidated by Sison’s threat, which he claimed was “nothing new.”
“While we were conducting peace talks, they’re targeting the soldiers. So what’s new with that? There’s nothing new,” Roque said.
“So go ahead. Make all the threats you want,” he said.
Sison made the call for intensified attacks following the arrest of Rafael Baylosis, a consultant to the communist’s political wing National Democratic Front of the Philippines. Sison described Baylosis’ arest as “extremely provocative.”