More troops deployed in the Visayas

CEBU – Philippines military chief General Andres Centino has ordered the deployment of additional troops in the Visayas to help augment security forces in battling the communist rebel group New People’s Army.

Centino was recently in Cebu where he inspected troops at the Visayas Command headquarters in Lapu-Lapu City. He said the deployment of more soldiers in central Philippines is necessary to further intensify the campaign against the rebel group, especially in Samar and Negros provinces where the NPA is operating.

“It is important for the Visayas Command to be on top of the situation, supervise the activities of the different Joint Task Forces, and ensure that the plans are understood and implemented on the ground,” Centino said.

He did not say how many troops, military air crafts and navy boats were being deployed in the Visayas.

The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. CPP founder Jose Maria Sison, 83, died in exile in The Netherlands in December 2022.

Sison had lived in self-exile in The Netherlands since then-President Corazon Aquino released him from detention in 1986, shortly after the “People Power” revolt overthrew dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the father and namesake of the current Philippine president.

 

Battle setbacks, surrenders and infighting, however, have weakened the guerrilla group, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and remains a major Philippine security threat. The communist rebellion has left about 40,000 combatants and civilians dead. It also has stunted economic development, especially in the countryside, where the military says about 3,500 insurgents are still active.

 

Past administrations had engaged in on and off peace negotiations with communist rebels represented by the umbrella organization National Democratic Front of the Philippines, where Sison served as chief political consultant. Former President Rodrigo Duterte ended peace talks in March 2019, and negotiations have not resumed. (Priam Nepomuceno, AP, Cebu Examiner)