MANILA – Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the death of a top communist insurgent in Mindanao has created a “leadership vacuum” in the New People’s Army (NPA).
Myrna Sularte, known as Maria Malaya in the underground movement, was killed in an encounter between communist rebels and soldiers of the Army’s 901st Infantry Brigade in Butuan City on Feb. 12.
“The neutralization of ‘Ka’ Maria Malaya has created a significant leadership vacuum, leaving the New People’s Army in disarray and severely demoralizing its dwindling forces,” Brawner said in a statement.
“Without strong leadership, the remaining insurgents will struggle to coordinate their operations, further accelerating the collapse of their organization,” he added.
Malaya’s death, according to the AFP chief, was not just a success of the military but a victory for Filipinos who could “now experience true peace, economic growth and improved quality of life.”
He assured Filipinos the military would continue to pursue those who pose a threat to peace and order in the country as he described the NPA “irrelevant,” and whose “cause has lost all legitimacy.”
He then urged the remaining NPA members to surrender now and take advantage of the government’s amnesty program to help them reintegrate into society.
Widow: God bless your soul
For Liza Rosales Mazo, the death of Maria Malaya, the top NPA leader in the Caraga Region, reopened old wounds but also offered some closure.
Mazo, a former director of the Office of Civil Defense in Caraga, said the news of Sularte’s death brought painful memories of her husband’s death in an ambush 15 years ago.
“Waking up to this news is a déjà vu. Maria Malaya is dead,” she wrote in a heartfelt Facebook post on Thursday.
Her husband, Inspector Christopher Mazo, then chief of police of Lianga, Surigao del Sur, was killed in an NPA ambush in 2009.
Malaya had publicly hailed the attack as a victory, broadcasting it on local radio stations and in news releases.
“Malaya’s announcement had me broken in tears, consumed with anger, and indescribable grief,” Mazo recalled.
“I was screaming for justice. How many families had she and her arsonist and extortionist troops shattered, leaving orphans and widows?”
Upon hearing of Sularte’s death, Mazo said she felt a familiar surge of anger.
“Murag napukaw akong kalagot (My disgust was awakened),” she said.
But Mazo said she has chosen to forgive.
“That’s what God-fearing people should do,” she said. “It’s not an eye for an eye nor a tooth for a tooth, but hoping and praying for peace for those aggrieved families and this country.”
She ended her post with a solemn blessing: “God bless your soul, Myrna Sularte, alias Maria Malaya.”
‘Choose peace’
Brawner said communist rebels should now choose peace.
“Choosing peace means securing a better future for themselves and their families, while continued resistance will only lead to the same fate as Malaya,” he said.
With their influence rapidly declining, he added the AFP could now shift its focus toward greater national security challenges, including safeguarding our territorial integrity and combating external threats.
In October last year, authorities arrested Wigberto “Baylon” Villarico, the acting chair of the Communist Party of the Philippines and two other top officials of the organization. National Security Adviser Eduardo Año called this “a major step” to dismantle the leadership of the communist terrorist group and “bring lasting peace to the country.”
In February, Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, AFP spokesperson, said the military would “really pursue the elimination” of the remaining guerrilla fronts of the NPA, adding President Marcos had ordered the military to end the internal insurgency problem and focus on external defense. (Nestor Corrales © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
