MANILA — Efforts are underway to restrict the New People’s Army (NPA) from accessing funds from abroad, according to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs office chief Colonel Noel Detoyato.
“They are deceiving foreign donors and diverting the money to further their terroristic activities with the ultimate aim of toppling the government and changing our way of life,” he said.
Only a unified and whole-of-government approach will defeat the NPA, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, said Detoyato.
“We have identified so many factors to eradicate the communist terrorists such as preventing them from accessing funds, counter their mass base recruitment and front organizations,” he revealed.
The rebels can only be neutralized effectively if the government will synchronize its efforts to counter them and the threats they pose, Detoyato stressed.
“We can only do this effectively if the whole government will synchronize their efforts towards a common goal (which is aimed at containing these factors that responsible for the continued operation of the NPA movement),” the AFP official added.
Once this is done, Detoyato expressed confidence that the ideology espoused by Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison and his “blind followers” will be defeated. (PNA)
