THE SHEER number of atrocities committed by communist terrorists from 2010 to 2020 against civilians and military personnel justifies their designation as a terror organization.
"These 1,506 incidents show a nationwide pattern of organized, orchestrated, continuing, deliberate and systematic scheme perpetrated by the Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs) which justifies their designation as a terrorist organization," said Armed Forces of the Philippines Center for Law of Armed Conflict (AFPCLOAC) director, Brig. Gen. Noel Alejandro Nacnac, during Monday's "TAGGED: Debunking Lies by telling the truth" online press conference.
Nacnac said the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) has recruited and utilized 544 children as "child warriors" during the said period.
Of the 544, Nacnac said 304 of these are male while 240 are female.
Some six of these "child warriors" were reported killed while another 11 were wounded during encounters with security forces.
He added that a total of 25 were reported to have been abused by communist terrorists while 464 have surrendered to authorities.
"These reports (are coming from) from field units, verifiable with names," Nacnac said.
The 464 child surrenderers, he said, could readily testify that they were used as "child warriors".
Nacnac added that Region 11 has logged the most "child warriors" with 141 compared to other regions in the Philippines.
The year 2019 has the highest number of "child warriors" with 119 recorded.
Damaged properties
He added that from 2010 to 2020, the CPP-NPA perpetrated 532 incidents where civilian properties were destroyed.
He said 2017 was the year with the highest communist terrorist attacks against civilian properties as the military recorded 87 incidents.
Region 13, he said, has the highest number of CPP-NPA attacks against civilian properties with 107 recorded.
Communist terrorists were also involved in the 141 incidents involving anti-personnel mines (APM).
Nacnac said this can be broken down into the following: Three incidents for production; 22 for stockpiling; six for transporting; and 110 for actual use.
The number of APM casualties was placed at 224 individuals.
This can be broken down into 32 killed for the military and another 163 wounded for a total of 195 for the AFP.
Also, five civilians killed and 24 wounded for a total of 29 civilian casualties.
Nacnac said 2020 saw 68 incidents involving APMs while Region 8 has the distinction of the area where the CPP-NPA used the anti-personnel mines the most with 25.
Willful killings
In what Nacnac has termed as "willful killings", 373 deaths were attributed to the CPP-NPA and can be broken down into 77 military personnel and 296 civilians.
Nacnac said the year where the CPP-NPA conducted the most "willful killings" was 2019 with 66 incidents.
While Region 13 has the distinction of where the communist terrorists have conducted most of their "willful killings" with 66 in the record.
The CPP-NPA is also listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The AFP earlier expressed its support to Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC)'s Resolution Numbers 16 and 17 the designated 29 individuals as terrorists.
"The military organization further conveys its full confidence to the ATC’s decision which was carried out based on verified and validated information," AFP chief, Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said in a statement.
He added that the AFP will be able to further protect Filipino citizens from terrorist acts by closely working together with government law enforcement agencies and focusing our resources to bring the mentioned personalities to justice.
"We are optimistic that the ATC’s resolution will continue to empower government, under the rule of law, to eradicate terrorism in our country, and maintain a peaceful and progressive nation for every Filipino," Sobejana added. (By Priam Nepomuceno)
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