ILOILO City – On Dec. 26, the 51st founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), there could be rebel offensives against government security forces and vital installations in Western Visayas, according to the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
The CPP usually marks its anniversary with attacks against the police and military carried out by its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).
Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, regional police director, ordered police units across Western Visayas to step up anti-insurgency operations in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Intensify intelligence monitoring, maximize defense posture, he told them.
PRO-6 spokesperson Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong said, “Our regional director also directed our policemen to carry both short and long firearms.”
In Iloilo province, towns with insurgency problems were told to be wary of strangers as these could be rebels.
These were San Joaquin, Guimbal, Miag-ao, Tubungan, Igbaras, Alimodian, Leon, Calinog, Maasin, Bingawan, Badiangan, San Enrique, San Rafael and Lemery, and the component city of Passi.
On the other hand, the Philippine Army already started troop deployment in the towns.
“We are ready. But we are asking the help of the community,” said Army Captain Cenon Pancito III, spokesperson of the 3rd infantry Division, Philippine Army.
The CPP was formed by Prof. Jose Maria Sison on Dec. 26, 1968. It was designated as a terrorist group by current Philippine president and Sison’s former student, Rodrigo Duterte in December 2017.
The CPP has been fighting a guerrilla war against the state since its establishment. Although its ranks initially numbered around 500, the party grew quickly, supposedly due to the declaration and imposition of martial law by former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos during his 21-year rule.
By the end of Marcos’ dictatorship, the number of combatants had expanded to include more than 10,000 fighters. In a speech before the US Congress in 1986, Marcos’ successor Corazon Aquino accredited the party’s rapid growth as being caused by Marcos’ attempts to stifle it with the “means by which it grows” with his establishment of martial law, suggesting that other governments view it as a lesson when dealing with communist insurgencies.
As of 2019, the organization claims that the number of its members and supporters is growing, despite claims by the Philippine government that the organization is about to be destroyed.
The organization remains an underground operation, with its primary goals being to overthrow the Philippine government through armed revolution./PN
