AFP, PNP step up unity in fight vs NPA rebels in E. Mindanao
DAVAO CITY—As the New People’s Army (NPA) continues to launch attacks in Mindanao, themilitary and police are also stepping up their coordination and security operations to defeat the communist rebellion.
Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista and Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima met with ground commanders and representatives of various local governments in the city onWednesday to create the Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Center (JPSCC) in Eastern Mindanao.
Three joint letter directives were released, giving out marching orders to the commanding officers of the AFP Eastern Mindanao Command and the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations-Eastern Mindanao.
The first joint letter directive is meant to enhance unity in addressing peace and security concerns, and other emergencies in Eastern Mindanao, said the AFP and PNP in a joint press statement.
Bautista said regional JPSCCs already existed and they only elevated these mechanisms to an area level to maximize the cooperation.
The Eastern Mindanao JPSCC will now supervise the regional JPSCCs to facilitate the enhancement of capability and interoperability of AFP and PNP units.
The second joint directive seeks to “institutionalize the entry strategy for the PNP in the normalization process to support LGUs (local government units) while the AFP “shifts to an external defense posture.”
Meanwhile, the third joint directive seeks to “enhance proactive security of economic investments,” as a response to the increasing trend of attacks on private companies implementing government projects.
Aside from combat and law enforcement operations, the JPSCC is also tasked to institutionalizemechanisms in building up and filing cases against leaders andmembers of the NPA involved in attacks against private companies.
Bautista said government forces were not setting a timeline but they wished to end it as soon as possible. “We will do it deliberately and comprehensively, as soon as we can,” Bautista said.
Purisima said police forces would be active in conducting investigations that would lead to the filing of charges against the NPA. “We want it done properly, even if it takes long,” Purisima said.
The Eastern Mindanao Command said there were still about 2,000 NPA fighters operating in its area of responsibility.
On Sept. 22, at least five soldiers were killed while four others were hurt in an attack by rebels in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental.
On the same day, Cpl. Salman Abas was released by the NPA after he was captured in a rebel-manned checkpoint in San Luis, Agusan del Sur, on Aug. 8.
Between Sept. 8 and 11, the NPA claimed it killed 10 and hurt five soldiers in different military offensives.
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, chief of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said government troops would also intensify the Peace and Development Outreach Program (PDOP) tomake the NPA “irrelevant.”
The PDOP, Cruz said, aims to help bring in social services to areas with communist guerrillas.
But human rights organizations Karapatan-Southern Mindanao and Hustisya said the military is only hiding combat-heavy military operations under the cloak of peace and development programs.
“We are registering our protest against this collaboration of the AFP and PNP, which will only intensify the government’s counterinsurgency campaign.
Under Oplan Bayanihan, the military and police have shown that their targets are farmers, indigenous people and civilians,” said Bayan Intise, Hustisya-Southern Mindanao secretary general.