By Rhoda Grace Saron/Philippine News Agency
DAVAO CITY — The sincerity of the government in improving basic services in communities are sending communist insurgents and underground supporters back to the folds of the law, an Army official said.
Col. Nolasco Mempin, commander of the Army’s 1003rd Brigade covering Davao Region areas, said Wednesday the strength of the New People’s Army (NPA) is dwindling since the start of the intensified insurgency campaign in 2016.
Mempin said a great number of communist insurgents and supporters have surrendered since last year because of the government’s effort to bring basic services closer to the people.
Mempin said the government, under its “whole-of-nation approach,” is working on addressing the root causes of insurgency.
He said the decrease in the number of NPA members can also be attributed to the Enhanced – Comprehensive Localized Integration Program (E-CLIP), a strategic flagship program of Duterte administration in achieving the government’s peace and development agenda.
“As what we have remembered in early 2018, the Eastern Mindanao Command under former and now AFP chief of staff Gen. Benjamin Madrigal, there was mass surrender to avail the benefits offered by the government like housing, firearms remuneration and livelihood, and immediate cash assistance,” Mempin said.
“That is why in 2019 the area of 1003rd Brigade expanded until San Fernando and Kitaotao, Bukidnon because in the area of Davao City the Pulang Bagani Company 1, 2, and 3 have been weakened, including the Guerilla Front 56 operating in the area of Marilog,” he added.
Mempin said the NPA “ideology is no longer working. It means that the majority of the people are really convinced that the democracy they are trying to project is not the solution.”
Mempin is hoping that the remaining insurgents will decide to return to the folds of the law and lead different lives.
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