Davao had Alsa Masa! Cebu had PAAC!
Just like what the news warned us, we should brace for the entry of a strong weather disturbance predicted to cross Cebu. We learned that the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (RDRRMC) had an emergency meeting over the weekend to discuss the preparations of each agency and office which is headed by the Office of Civil Defense in Central Visayas calling for the pre-disaster risk assessment on November 17 in Cebu City to evaluate the preparations of each entity especially for the local disaster units. But Tuesday morning came and there wasn’t even any rain in my house.
I’m sure that the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration-Visayas which also briefed the officials and representatives of the trajectory of tropical depression Samuel and its possible impact on the region must have been given a pleasant surprise. Sure, any potential storm to pass Cebu would always be treated with caution. But yesterday Cebuanos must be very lucky or blessed by the Lord.
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Is it true that the Philippine National Police is considering establishing a civilian network similar to the infamous Alsa Masa group in Davao City in the 1980s to beef up community support in the fight against crime, especially illegal drugs? Mind you, when the Alsa Masa was active, it was not under the control of the police. Call the Alsa Masa the scourge of the underground communist rebels as they had an effective way to fight them with the same effect as the rebels. It is a fact that the existence of the Alsa Masa cut deeply into the recruitment program of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.
I can understand that Etta Rosales, former chairwoman of the Commission on Human Rights, urged caution in forming such a group, as it could lead to human rights abuses similar to those crimes committed against legitimate dissenters during the Marcos dictatorship. This is the problem of people like Etta Rosales; they have stuck their minds to the time of the martial law years and repeat their Marcos scare to no one’s delight. They forget that the fight in the countryside is against the NPA and, yes, the always-present illegal drug syndicates. This is today’s war and it is for real, the Marcos martial law was over 30 years ago!
I must submit that during the ‘80s, I was one of the top people who helped the group of the late Cerge M. Remonde who created the People’s Alliance Against Communism (PAAC) and we had an alliance with the Alsa Masa and we effectively fought the NPA in the hinterlands of Balamban. Back then, the town of Balamban didn’t have the Transcentral Highway or the Tsuneishi Heavy Industries. Also, the fight against the communist rebels was about their planting marijuana in areas that were difficult to look into.
How things have changed since the construction of the Transcentral Highway and the establishment of Tsuneishi Heavy Industries with the Aboitiz Group of Companies. Now Balamban is a booming town hopefully to become a city just like Toledo City. This is how progress has made Cebu economically strong and the reason why when she was governor of Cebu, then Governor Gwen F. Garcia declared Cebu insurgency-free!
Now, as far as PAAC is concerned, we started slowing down when Alsa Masa head Juan “Jun” Pala was killed in September 6, 2003 in his radio room in dxGO. Mind you, then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was accused of his murder, which was never proven.
PAAC then supported the military through numerous rallies in the hinterlands of Barangay Mulao in Liloan and Compostela, in Barangay Buot Taop and many others. I recall that in Barangay Buot Taop our helicopter’s rotor hit a coconut tree and obliterated its leaves, thankfully the chopper moved as the rotor almost hit the trunk. We would have crashed and died in the slopes of that barangay which falls straight into the Managa River. Those were the days of my restless youth and the reason why I will never forget Cerge Remonde. Now should we bring back Alsa Masa? Why not for as long as it scares the daylights out of the CPP/NPA/NDF?
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