DILG Secretary Eduardo Año. (File photo)
MANILA – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Wednesday said the five Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) members killed in a shootout in Rizal last month were part of the NPA death squads deployed in Southern Luzon to assassinate top national and local government leaders and police and military officers over “blood debts.”
“We can now confirm that the five NPA members killed in Barangay San Juan, Baras, Rizal were part of a death squad that was supposed to carry out the directive of Joma Sison to assassinate government and civilian leaders,” DILG Secretary Eduardo Año, who himself is one of the targets of the NPA, said in a news release.
“Isang tagumpay para sa atin na napigilan ang mga ganitong mga operasyon ng NPA lalo pa’t ito’y isang tuwirang pagbabanta sa buhay ng mga pinuno ng bansa at maging ng mga sibilyan (This prevention of NPA operations is a victory especially that this is direct threat to the lives of the country's leaders and civilians),” he added.
CPP founder Jose Maria Sison recently released an order from his self-imposed exile in the Netherlands to its armed wing, the NPA, to deploy so-called armed partisan units and special operations groups to cities, and major town centers “to carry out attacks against government forces and to mete out punishment against enemy units and officers who have committed bloody crimes against the people.”
This was confirmed by CPP Central Committee Information Officer alias Marcos Valduena who said “there is a standing order for the NPA to form partisan teams to mete out punishment against enemy units and officers who have committed bloody crimes against the people.”
The DILG chief said the deployment of the NPA death squads to urban areas intends to bring the NPA’s reign of terror in the countryside to the cities.
“The PNP (Philippine National Police) and AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) will do its utmost to protect the people from these terrorists in sheep’s clothing. We will crush these urban terrorist cells before they can begin their reign of terror,” he added.
He urged the Commission on Human Rights and even the so-called Makabayan Bloc to condemn the deployment of NPA death squads in urban areas to prove that they are truly not members or fronts of the CPP.
He said assassinations by the NPA death squads are clearly extra-judicial killing (EJKs) which the CPP is now bringing to the urban areas after decades of perfecting armed terrorism in the mountains.
Año said among those neutralized were a woman known as alias Sandra, a Rebolusyonaryong Buwis sa Kaaway na Uri (RBKU) staff and wife of alias Luis, Secretary of Guerilla Front Cesar; and an alias Onli, regional intelligence officer who were actively generating funds for the communist terrorist group (CTG) through extortion and harassment of innocent civilians.
He said the initial plan of the said NPA assassination unit was to establish a terrorist cell in Rizal which will house their Southern Luzon operations, a location that will bring them close to Metro Manila to carry out the orders of Sison.
He said CPP’s deployment of NPA death squads is a major escalation in the terrorism program of the CTGs and is clear and convincing proof that the Anti-Terrorism Council did the right thing in designating CPP and NPA as "terrorist organizations".
“Ngayon ay hindi na nila maikakaila ang kanilang tunay na kulay at motibo. Sila ay mga terorista na kailanman ay hindi naghangad ng kapayapaan kundi ang maghasik ng kaguluhan, pumatay ng mga puwersa ng gobyerno, para pabagsakin ang gobyerno (Now, they cannot deny their true colors and motives. They are terrorists who never aimed for peace but are merely sowing chaos and killing government forces to overthrow the government),” he said.
Año also said Sison’s statement during the CPP’s 52nd anniversary in December ordering the return of NPA death squads is a feeble attempt to turn the tide against the government now that the communist movement is losing mass support in its base of operations.
He said in addition to Sison’s pronouncement, the NDF’s International Information Office’s commentary published on the CPP’s website stating "the conditions are ripe for the return of armed city partisans" is a masquerade of the NPA's plan to mount urban terrorism and assassinations to compensate for its continuing losses and setbacks in the countryside.
“This latest move of Joma Sison is a desperate move driven by the fact that they are losing their ground. Higit sa lahat, ito ay excuse lamang para lalo silang makapanggulo (Above all, this is just an excuse for them to be able to sow chaos) in their pathetic attempt to overthrow one of the most popular governments in the world,” he said.
In the 1980s, the CPP-NPA-NDF first deployed its “sparrow units” in urban centers and murdered hundreds of policemen, military officers, and civilians in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and other areas to speed up its protracted people’s war, sow chaos, and bring down the government
Shootout in Rizal
The DILG chief said the NPA members killed in a shootout with the AFP and PNP in Baras, Rizal last Dec. 17, 2020 were responsible for various extortion and terroristic activities victimizing local government officials, businessmen, and ordinary individuals.
According to the report, the PNP, with the support of the AFP, was on its way to issue a warrant of arrest for frustrated murder to alias Dads/Darwin, head of the finance staff and Execom member of NPA’s Sub-Regional Military Area 4A, when the CTGs open fired leading to a crossfire between the two parties in Sitio Malalim, San Juan, Baras, Rizal.
As the gunshots died down, five bodies from the side of the NPA were spotted including alias Sandra, wife of alias Luis, Secretary of Guerilla Front Cesar, and concurrently designated as SRMA 4A's RBKU staff and alias Onli, the terrorist group's intelligence officer.
Three NPA members killed in the said incident are still being identified according to the AFP. Recovered in the scene were two M16 rifles; two caliber-45 pistols; one Uzi submachine gun; and, several electronic devices and subversive documents.
“Lumiliit na ang mundo ng mga teroristang ito. Habang hindi pa huli ang lahat, sumuko na kayo at talikuran ang inyong baluktot na paniniwala at maling ipinaglalaban (The world is getting smaller for these terrorists. While it is not yet too late, surrender and turn back on your crooked beliefs and convictions),” Ano added. (PR)
