AFP ready to stop NPA hit squads

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has vowed to stop and neutralize any attempt by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) to kill government officials and civilians.

“The soldiers are ready to protect the people and the country from such terroristic acts,” AFP spokesman Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said yesterday, referring to reports that the CPP-NPA will deploy assassination squads to kill government officials and innocent civilians.

“We warn them against pursuing this terrorist design. We see this as an attempt to terrorize the public, if not a desperate attempt to show that they still have forces or they are still to be feared,” Arevalo added.

He said CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison’s supposed order to deploy SPARU or special partisan units is a terrorist act as he is inducing his liquidation squads to assassinate government officials and non-combatant civilians.

“If they are determined, the AFP is ready to protect the Filipinos and we will not allow them to succeed. We will fail them in every instance because we have the help and support of the people in this fight,” Arevalo said.

By issuing the order, Sison is confirming that the CPP-NPA is a terrorist group, he added.

“He justified and validated the Anti-Terrorism Council’s designation of them as a terrorist organization,” he said.

Meanwhile, the military forces in North Luzon challenged rights group Karapatan to condemn the CPP-NPA for its plan to deploy hit squads.

Maj. Gen. Laurence Mina, chief of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division (ID) based in Isabela, urged Karapatan to denounce the announcement of Marco Valbuena, information officer of the CPP central committee, that the communist group has revived its urban hit squads to kill police officers, soldiers, government spies and politicians.

The Army’s 3rd ID based in Negros Occidental is also bracing for the revival of the NPA urban hit squads in Western and Central Visayas.

Saying it has been the NPA’s tactic to deploy assassins, 3rd ID spokesman Maj. Cenon Pancito said the declaration showed how barbaric the communists are.

As this developed, the Philippine National Police (PNP) suspended the issuance of permits for the transport of explosive materials including those requested by mining companies.

The suspension was based on orders of President Duterte following reports that some explosive materials being transported to mining sites ended up in the hands of the communist guerrillas.

PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas confirmed that Duterte suspended all permits to transport explosive materials effective Jan. 1. – Artemio Dumlao, Gilbert Bayoran, Neil Jayson Servallos