MANILA -- Due to their lack of political ideology, remaining New People's Army (NPA) are engaging in extortion and other atrocities just to survive.
This was emphasized by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs office chief Col. Noel Detoyato Tuesday when asked if rebels will kill if their extortion demands are thwarted in the countryside.
"All circumstances ng extortion is always like that. Kill one, terrorize 10,000. Base yan sa (That is based on the) revelation ng mga nahuli, na-arrest and nag-surrender (of those who were captured, arrested and surrendered)," he added.
With this development, Detoyato said the NPAs are just operating like bandits and criminals as money or goods obtained from their extortion are for their own benefit.
"Almost everytime, They extort for their personal use," the AFP official added.
The lack of political ideology is also one of the primary reasons for the mass surrender of NPA fighters and supporters.
"The ideology is dead. Fighting and extorting for survival na lang sila. Yan ang reason why many are taking the path of surrendering. And the only way to stop the exodus of surrenderers is to force the government to sit down for peace talks so that there will be a ceasefire or worse for the government, a 'stand down'," Detoyato added.
The AFP earlier announced that NPA forces nationwide are on the decline as around 7,531 rebels and other supporters have been neutralized from January 1 to June 28 this year.
This can be broken down into 71 killed, 114 captured and 7,346 who voluntarily surrendered.
"As they had been saying and I say it again, 'peace talks is a tool to advance the armed struggle'," Detoyato stressed. (PNA)
