Philippine Military report says it can’t defeat NPA by 2010

Philippine Military report says it can’t defeat NPA by 2010


by the AJLPP Political Secretariat

MANILA, Philippines – The cat is out of the bag.

Finally,the Philippine military, the Armed Forces of the Philippines(AFP) has admitted it had limited success in destroying the firepower of communist insurgents, putting it way behind the target of wiping out the rebellion by 2010, a classified military report said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is also the AFP Commander in Chief, has said she wants the communist New People’s Army (NPA) largely defeated by the time she steps down from power in June 2010. She announced it after she “won” the hotly contested elections of 2004.

But an assessment report seen by Reuters said “ the military was not winning enough victories against the NPA, which despite the collapse of communism worldwide, continued to strike a chord with poor Filipinos angered at widening inequality at home.”

The report also said: “Although there were successes in all threat areas, the military was not gaining enough to attain strategic victory at the desired rate,” said the report on the government’s Operation “Bantay Laya,” or “Guard Freedom.”

“If the military continues its operations at the current rate, it is projected that the communist insurgency will be defeated by 2018,” the report prepared by the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans said.

The NPA, which is fighting for the establishment of a peoples democratic government, has waged a rebellion since 1969 that has killed more than 40,000 people. Peace talks with the government broke down in 2004.

Under fire for its human rights record and for falling behind the 2010 goal, the military said it has readjusted its anticommunist strategy this year by focusing less on combat operations and more on information campaigns and development projects to counter civilian support for the NPA.

But actually what transpired is a cresendo of political killings that brought condemnation from all over the world.

Bantay Laya, part II

With its new strategy, “Bantay Laya II,” the military is predicting that 80 percent of the NPA’s 100 bases will be dismantled by 2010, a tall order given that less than 20 camps have been removed since the beginning of 2002.

The AFP wants to flush the 6,300-member NPA out of around 19 bases in 2007. The military has removed only five bases in the first half of 2007.

But some political commentators believed Bantay Laya is a recycled military plan which the military has implemented all through the years. Dictator Marcos implemented Oplan Katatagan( a carbon copy of the OPLAN PHOENIX in Vietnam).

The only difference is the blatant political killings that took toll of civilian lives, More than 900 political activist has been killed under the Arroyo presidency since 2001.

AFP Political adventurism

In its strategic assessment, the military said inadequate resources, particularly a lack of helicopters and transport planes, were a problem when trying to corner rebels living in remote, mountainous areas.

The AFP, which has been involved in over a dozen coup plots since the overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, also said its soldiers were distracted by “political adventurism” and their deployment during elections.
2 Generals( one from the marines and one from the army), 20 colonels and more than 50 officers are facing court martial proceedings. More than 200 junior officers were implicated in the Oakwood mutiny in Makati City.

Meawhile,generals who are close to President Arroyo are promoted and are given plum post in the armed forces and the police. The report said that soldiers could not focus on their security roles because they were overburdened with other tasks, unrealistic targets and a lack of funds.

The reuters report gloss over the fact it was dictator Marcos who policized hte AFP. By placing his psycopaths in power, Marcos refused to promote PMAers to plum post. He appointed vaguard fraternity mates and ROTC reserves bypasssing the PMA graduates.

PGMA use the same Marcos tactic in "revolving door" appointment of AFP Chief of Staff and PNP Chiefs. And he appointed retired AFP and PNP officers to civilian bureauracy.

Weak in propaganda

At the policy level, the assessment report found that the government did not prosecute enough militants and its propaganda was weak.

More than 900 leftist activists have been murdered since Ms Arroyo came to power in 2001 and a United Nations rapporteur has said the military was responsible for many of the killings, which international groups say were part of a dirty war against the Left.

The military has denied the executions were official policy and has blamed rogue soldiers and internal purges within the NPA. But nodod is buying the AFP thery and worn out propaganda.