Reds tweak AFP again for “rehashed script” on mass surrenders

BAGUIO CITY (April 26, 2022)— The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on Tuesday described as a “tired old script” the statements Monday night made by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief Gen. Andres Centino that “hardships and mass surrender” are taking a toll on the New People’s Army (NPA).

“Wala na bang bago sa script niyo?,” CPP Chief Information Officer Marco Valbuena asked Gen. Centino.  “Don’t you have anything new to say or show other than your tired old script, falsified numbers of ‘surrenders’, and fake news reports of AFP battlefield victories?”

According to Valbuena, “Hindi na mabilang na heneral ng AFP sa nakaraan ang lahat nagmalaki na dudurugin at wawakasan ang NPA, pero lahat sila’y napatunayang mali ng kasaysayan.”  (“I could no longer count the number of past AFP generals who bragged that they will crush and end the NPA, but all were proved wrong by history.”)

Valbuena continued, “Hindi na rin mabilang na inulit ni Duterte na tatapusin niya ang NPA bago magtapos ang taon o bago siya bumaba sa poder,” added Valbuena. “Ilang ulit na rin niyang inusod ang ‘deadline’ para rito?”

The CPP maintained, “the Red fighters of the NPA are steeled and have become stronger in the face of sacrifices they have chosen to endure for the sake of masses.”  In the face of the worsening brutality of the AFP’s war, NPA Red fighters become even more determined to fight to attain justice for the people, he added.

The AFP and Duterte’s National Task Force-Elcac, recently pointed out that around 24,000 “Red fighters and supporters” have surrendered to the government, declaring the regime’s “counterinsurgency campaign” successful.

But Valbuena said, “these numbers being reported by the NTF-ELCAC and the AFP are all a farce,” pointing out, “that these are several times the number of NPA fighters.”

“A great majority of those presented as surrenderers are, in fact, civilians, whose democratic rights were violated by the arbitrary, baseless, and unlawful red-tagging by the AFP,” said Valbuena. “They are unarmed peasants who have been subjected to relentless harassment and suppression by the military,” Valbuena claimed.

“Far from being crushed, the NPA and the revolutionary movement continue to steadily advance across the country,” Valbuena insisted.  “Of course, in the course of waging war, some fighters surrender or abscond. But their numbers are far, far below from that being claimed by the AFP,” he admitted.

Valbuena also pointed out, “those who choose to surrender are being replaced by younger and more determined Red fighters.”

Artemio A. Dumlao