3 Luzon regions picked as pilot areas in war vs NPA

Following a plan to increase its war chest, the government will concentrate most of its counter-insurgency efforts in three regions — Bicol, Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog — in a bid to finally end the decades-long communist rebellion in two years.

President Arroyo has pledged to boost the Armed Forces’ budget by P1 billion and demanded "dramatic results in two years in these critical areas," Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz told a news conference yesterday.

The New People’s Army (NPA) maintains a strong presence in Central Luzon and Southern Luzon regions as well as in Sorsogon in the Bicol Region, Cruz said.

He stressed that while the extra military budget would be used to acquire extra military hardware from the United States, part of the campaign would involve civil-military operations involving building of roads, providing basic infrastructure such as drinking water, electricity, schools and medical clinics to areas already secured by the military.

"It must be demonstrated that there is a better alternative to fighting the government," Cruz explained. "You can’t solve the insurgency through military means alone. It really needs total government approach. If your military is weak, then you won’t solve it."

Backing up the military will be the 100,000-strong Philippine National Police, which Cruz said will also get funding — about P300 million — from the additional P1-billion war chest. Remote police outposts are among the NPA rebels’ favorite targets.

Cruz said better economic growth figures in the Philippines would help because this would in turn attract foreign investment, create jobs and increase state revenues, allowing the government to spend more on social services.

He said some 68 percent of the military budget is devoted to internal security operations.

Cruz said Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri estimates that the Philippines growth rate would jump by two percentage points if the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the NPA, are defeated.

"Sooner or later the CPP-NPA would wilt on the vine because theirs is a failed economic model," he said. "We have seen the ugly face of violence. It affects the lives of innocent people."

While Mrs. Arroyo wants to crush the communist insurgency in two years, Cruz said it may actually take longer than that. "I have… optimism that if this convergence (military and economic approach) continues, we can defeat insurgency within six to 10 years" under his department’s long-term counter-insurgency program.

The government has been fighting one of the world’s most tenacious Maoist insurgencies for the past 37 years.

Mrs. Arroyo shelved peace talks with the CPP two years ago after the rebels were blacklisted by the United States as "foreign terrorist organizations."

NPA guerrillas — with an estimated strength of 7,400 — are spread throughout the archipelago, straining the manpower and supply lines of the 120,000-strong Armed Forces that carry the bulk of the counter-insurgency operations.

Mrs. Arroyo ordered intensified military operations against the NPA after she quelled in February a reported conspiracy between renegade military officers, communist rebels and elements of the opposition to take over the government.

Cruz said military commanders are now under strict orders to avoid civilian casualties as security forces intensify operations against the NPA.

"We need to have discipline to avoid collateral damage," he said, following Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez’s statement that civilian casualties cannot be avoided.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, who is also Mrs. Arroyo’s spokesman, said the campaign "will continue to adhere to rules of engagement and with due regard to constitutional rights."

"This is not a prelude to authoritarian rule, which is a bogey raised by irresponsible quarters," Bunye said. "The time has come to finally defeat (the NPA) through a combination of military operations, law enforcement and pro-poor programs to mop up the revolutionaries’ mass base."

Several lawmakers have urged the government to take steps to avoid civilian casualties. "In preparation for the government’s offensive launch, we must anticipate the impact of military operations to protect civilians," said House majority leader Prospero Nograles.

Leyte Rep. Eduardo Veloso proposed an "information drive" to prevent military operations from inadvertently alienating the local populace.

Left-leaning groups, meanwhile, criticized the government yesterday for planning to spend an additional P1 billion in its drive to crush the communist insurgency.

"This regime is totally outrageous," women’s rights group Gabriela said in a statement. It said the additional funding "should instead go to addressing poverty and give hope to hungry Filipinos."

At least one opposition lawmaker, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who once headed the PNP, backed the renewed counter-insurgency drive. "Even if the government were to allot P10 billion, I’d support it. It is high time the government showed its iron fist against communist rebels."

View from the field

Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, the commander of military forces in Central Luzon, doubts the communist insurgency could be wiped out in two years as Mrs. Arroyo wants if local government officials don’t help in the campaign.

"I wish the President could be given the information on local officials who are hardly involved in the drive against the enemies," said Palparan, chief of the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Division, adding that dealing with them won’t be easy.

"We cannot do it in two years, even if we go full-blast, if local officials are not also mobilized. Many of them have more information (about the NPA than the military). They have more direct contact with the people and they impact on them. They know the real situation and people yield to them," Palparan told The STAR in an interview.

Palparan said many local officials are soft on the NPA for various reasons, including political expediency and fear of reprisal, especially now with the mid-term elections nearing.

"The enemy has two strategies to get the support of local officials: propaganda and threat," he said. Those who are not swayed by propaganda get threats, he added.

Palparan cited the case of Pampanga Gov. Mark Lapid whom he accused of lacking support in the military’s anti-insurgency campaign.

Lapid "knows many things" but has had "reservations" about supporting the military. "Because of this, we don’t have one direction," Palparan said.

He also cited Bulacan where "informants of the enemy are all over," who tip off the rebels about troop movements.

One town mayor ceased being sympathetic to the insurgents after learning that his barangay captains had already been won over by the military, Palparan said.

Because of such situations, "our movements (against the rebels) are very slow and we can’t concentrate with local officials becoming also our problem."

Palparan also agrees that civilian casualties may be unavoidable. "It’s a situational matter, but that happens, especially in populated areas, such as in an ambush," he said.

He emphasized, however, that soldiers receive training for marksmanship as well as distinguishing friend from foe.

Instead of procuring more weapons, Palparan plans to acquire vehicles and communications equipment to help him reach out to the local populace and win their hearts and minds.

Additional funding would also improve the lot of soldiers, who get an allowance of only P60 for each 24-hour duty, Palparan disclosed. — With Roel Pareño, Aurea Calica, Paolo Romero, Ding Cervantes, Michael Punongbayan