Defeat of NPA by 2010 imminent, says AFP

MANILA, Philippines - The military is turning over counterinsurgency operations in five provinces to the police and local governments, saying the defeat of the New People’s Army (NPA) by next year is imminent.

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., AFP public information chief, announced this yesterday following the conduct of third-quarter assessment of internal security operations by major service and unified commanders and other major command heads at Camp Aguinaldo.

This year, internal security operations in the provinces of Romblon, Laguna, Cebu, Southern Leyte, Iloilo and Agusan del Sur as well in some towns in Tarlac, Leyte, Negros and Misamis Oriental will be turned over to their respective governors and mayors, Brawner said.

Last month, the AFP relinquished to the police the lead role in counterinsurgency operations in Marinduque, La Union and Bohol, declaring the three provinces NPA-free.

“For this quarter’s assessment, a significant downtrend was manifested on all parameters that we used to measure success in the AFP’s conduct of (internal security operations),” Brawner said.

Brawner said the rebels’ strength, number of firearms, so-called affected barangays and guerrilla fronts have all declined.

He, however, refused to release the military’s statistical data on the NPA in terms of strength, armaments and organizational movement, saying these are all operational in nature.