MANILA --- Support for the New People's Army (NPA) is now on the decline as evidenced by the ongoing mass surrenders of its fighters and supporters, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr. said Friday.
He made this statement while noting that as of September 25, a total of 9,606 NPAs and their supporters, including 900 regular and 921 underground mass organization members, have voluntarily surrendered to the government.
"The recent surrenders show the continued collapse in the NPA's main sources of support, their mass organizations, and indicates the effectiveness of our campaign to end the communist insurgency nationwide," Galvez added.
He added that the AFP will continue to bank on the application of the whole of nation – whole of government approach, which involves the use of sustainable and peaceful engagements with vulnerable communities to protect them from further NPA exploitation.
This includes the Community Support Plan, which is the grassroots of the AFP's Development Support and Security Plan Kapayapaan launched in 2017 and for implementation until 2022, and connects local government units to the conflict-affected communities for the speedy delivery of basic services.
“We have seen many of these guerilla fronts have been either dismantled or degraded hard core followers surrendering in groups to our government forces. This is indicative that the people are more rallying against the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)-NPA that has been plaguing the people for five decades now,” Galvez said.
With overwhelming support of the public and the government, Galvez expressed confidence that the NPAs will be defeated by 2019.
“I would like to call on everyone to join this fight against the menace of terrorism and insurgency. Let us do this together and vanquish our enemies,” he added. (PNA)
