Why is the AFP & PNP losing the war vs. NPA’S?

What did I tell you? Peace in Mindanao would never happen under the Presidency of Pres. Benigno "PNoy" Aquino, III because of the presence of known leftists inside his government. A case in point is a dastardly incident that happened in Matan-ao, Davao del Sur as reported by Capt. Alberto Caber, AFP Eastern Mindanao Command who said some 100 New People's Army (NPA) rebels arrived in two Elf trucks and raided the police station there, spraying the police station with machine gun fire, killing two policemen and wounding three other PNP officers. That raid resulted in the capture by the NPA rebels of seven M-16 high-powered rifles and two 9mm pistols. This was a great catch for the NPAs.

This happened even as the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) issued a high-alert order because of intelligence reports of rebel activities in the area. In hot pursuit operations by the Philippine Army, at least seven soldiers were killed and eight soldiers wounded when their Army vehicle struck a landmine near Barangay Saboy also in Matan-ao, Davao del Sur. Two NPA rebels were also killed in the hot pursuit operations.

Col. Norman Flores, Army 1002 Brigade Commander said that the NPA rebels have been using landmines in direct violation of international laws, while the Philippine military adhere to the ban on the use of landmines. Of course what can we expect from the NPA's who are nothing but a bunch of terrorists. Mind you, only last December, the NPA's also stormed the police headquarters in the town of Don Victoriano Chiongbian in the province of Southern Misamis Occidental where they also seized a cache of weapons and escaped towards Zamboanga del Sur.

Also last year, the NPA's also raided the police headquarters in the town of Kibawe, Bukidnon province where five police officers were killed and wounded, fleeing with a huge number of high-powered weapons. As the AFP spokesman pointed out, there were no official pronouncements from the NPA's about these latest attacks. But should we be surprised? Perhaps not surprisingly, we do not hear any official pronouncements from Malacañang Palace denouncing these attacks.

We've already written our warnings in this corner, when I learned that the Intelligence budget for the AFP and the PNP was cut down, because those responsible for approving those budgets told the AFP and the PNP that the NPA's were already a spent force. These NPA raids, including the raid at the Del Monte Plantation last year done by some 200 rebels has not elicited any violent reactions neither from Malacañang nor even from Pres. Aquino.

I dare say that it is high time that Malacañang issued a strongly worded statement against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) or even declare all out war against the NPA's. If they cannot do so, then perhaps the officers and men of the AFP better think twice on their roles in defending the Philippine government. In my book, the Aquino Presidency has become too soft on the NPA's and as we've already said, it is due to the fact that many leftists are already inside Malacañang.

Still on the defense of the Philippines, last Jan.27th, a Chinese Coast Guard Cutter fired water cannons on 20 Filipino fishing boats in Panatag or Scarborough Shoal and those poor fishermen went home empty handed. Yesterday, the Philippine Star reported in its front-page news saying that Chinese Coast Guard ships patrolling around Ayungin Shoal drove away Filipino vessels. These international incidents are happening with uncanny regularity and it just surprises me why the Philippine Navy has not responded to these incidents?

Early in the Aquino Presidency, he received the first "modern" Navy vessel from the US Coast Guard, a Hamilton class Frigate renamed the BRP Gregorio del Pilar and later last year, the President accepted the second Hamilton class Frigate named BRP Ramon Alcaraz. If you listened to the speeches of the President, he boasted that these vessels would boost the capability of the Philippine Navy to patrol the contested areas claimed by China and that's exactly what's happening in the West Philippine Sea.

But the big question is, where are our two new (although they are more than 40-years old) Navy ships? Why can't they defend our fishermen? Are they afraid of the Chinese Coast Guard? If the AFP and the PNP are losing the war against the NPA's in Davao del Sur and the Philippine Navy is absent in the West Philippine Sea, the Filipino people might be thinking that Pres. Aquino is not taking charge of defending the Philippines from our domestic and foreign enemies. One can even charge the President of dereliction of duty or cowardice that he won't even issue statements against those incessant attacks by the NPA in Mindanao. Email: vsbobita@gmail.com