By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Following recent terror attacks, the New People’s Army (NPA) has been declared “persona non-grata” by the province of Negros Oriental.
The Negros Oriental Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC), which is chaired by Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo, recently approved a resolution condemning recent terror acts conducted by the insurgent group, including the assassination of suspected military informants; barangay officials; members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit, or CAFGU; military and police personnel; as well as millions worth of property destruction.
The governor said the socio-economic situation in Negros Oriental had been affected by the atrocities as the NPA has propagated among the general public, along with potential investors, which has made for terrible economic implications.
The resolution called the actions by the NPA a “manifestation of betrayal of achieving peace, thus, disrupting the peace and order situation of the province.”
Military unit stations in Negros welcomed the development.
The Philippine Army 302nd Infantry Brigade, headed by Brigadier General Ignacio Madriaga, said atrocities committed by the NPA hindered progress, especially the attempts by local government units to uplift the lives of people residing in the countryside.
“We very much welcome this open show of support by the province of Negros Oriental to the intent of President Rodrigo Duterte to end the communist insurgency,” Madriaga, who supervises security operations against communist rebels in the province, said. “Such only verbalizes the collective disgust of the people of Negros Oriental against the NPA terror group that has done nothing but oppress and terrorize people.”
He added, the declaration of the NPA as persona non grata will “definitely weaken the communist movement in Negros Oriental” and “will serve as a reminder to those who support them that they are clinging to a dead cause.”
Meanwhile, Philippine Army 3rd Infantry Division commander, Major General Dinoh Dolina, said the PPOC took the right and appropriate action against the communist terror group, which he noted was responsible for a series of atrocities in Negros Oriental that victimized not only security forces but government and private property, along with “defenseless civilians.”
“[Negrenses are] fed up with these anti-people, anti-peace, and anti-development communist terrorists,” the military official stated. “They have no place in a peace-loving community.”
He also urged other provinces in the Visayas to pass a similar resolution, not only to prevent the NPA from entering peaceful communities but also “to stop them from committing more terror.”
Last February, following a meeting facilitated by the Philippine Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion, Kabankalan City’s Barangay Carol-an formulated a barangay resolution declaring the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA (CPP-NPA) and its political wing, the National Democratic Front, “persona non grata.”
NPA rebels earlier gunned down Barangay Tanod Cornelio Morales in the community’s Sitio Camandag. The incident prompted residents to condemn the presence and atrocities of the CPP-NPA./DGB, WDJ