BACOLOD CITY – The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) has set up a surrender desk for members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) who want to return to the fold of the law.
The surrender desk is part of the Project TAPE or Table for Peace, a Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) initiative that promotes peace, development, and reconciliation in this city.
Col. Thomas Joseph Martir, city police director, said on Wednesday the BCPO has already made history in helping facilitate the surrender of a young couple, who were former CPP-NPA combatants from Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental, during a ceremony held on Tuesday.
“I encourage other communist-terrorist group members to embrace the Table for Peace program and give it a chance to help you pursue a better and peaceful living,” he said.
The term “tape” also means to secure, cordon, and isolate Bacolod from the deception, recruitment, and atrocities of the communist-terrorist groups.
According to the BCPO, the Project TAPE will be conducted daily through massive and intensified information operation, public information, awareness, and community engagement activities.
“This is aimed to empower Bacolodnons to help enlighten (CPP-NPA) members of their futile cause and that the government is serious in its peace and development efforts to encourage and convince them to surrender through the BCPO Surrender Desk,” it added.
The BCPO intends to mainly provide a safe corridor for armed and urban operation members in returning to the fold of the law and identify interventions to address social issues that serve as push factors for communist-terrorist groups.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The National Democratic Front (NDF) has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)
