The Department of National Defense (DND) on Sunday challenged Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria "Joma" Sison to bring the New People's Army (NPA)'s terror threats in urban areas.
This, after the CPP Central Committee claimed that there is a standing order from Sison, who is in a self-exile in Hague, The Netherlands, to form special partisan units (SPARUs) which can "carry out punitive actions in the cities or close to the cities" against government forces.
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
"It is so easy for Mr. Sison to order from his safe and comfortable haven in the Netherlands the return of his city armed terrorists he calls partisan units. By 'partisan units,' Mr. Sison is actually referring to his 'terrorist NPA assassins' targeting government officials and unarmed non-combatant civilians," Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.
"We dare Mr. Sison to bring on his terror threats. Unlike in the '80s, the AFP is more prepared to defeat his terrorist liquidation squads. The Filipino people will be on our side in this fight," he added.
The SPARU, or formerly known as the NPA's Sparrow unit, is the communist group's "hit squad" which gained notoriety in the 1980s after it took responsibility for several high-profile killings in the country.
Lorenzana described the NPA's special partisan operations as "simply murder by assassination" and a euphemism for extrajudicial killing (EJK).
"But like the NPA SPARUs of old, these terrorists face certain death and their blood will be in the hands of Mr. Sison," Lorenzana said.
CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena said partisan units of the NPA have recently "punished" some "notorious fascist criminals" who have "committed bloody crimes against the people."
Valbuena said among them was Jumar Bucales who was killed in an ambush believed to be perpetrated by 20 communist rebels in October 2020.
Valbuena claimed that Bucales headed a local paramilitary vigilante group responsible for the 2015 Lianga massacre, referring to the brutal killing of lumad leaders Dionel Campos, Datu Bello Sinzo, and lumad school director Emerito Samarca on Sept. 1, 2015.
Bucales was the Indigenous People Mandatory Representative (IPMR) of Lianga, Surigao del Sur who reportedly supported the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
Lorenzana condemned the NPA's attacks on civilians as he urged them to lay down their weapons and surrender to authorities since the end of their 52-year-long armed revolution is already "near."
"Mr. Sison, you are either hallucinating about your revolution succeeding or you are merely whistling in the dark while living an abundant and luxurious life abroad. The cadres you have fooled to join the NPA to be extortionists, arsonists, rapists, and murderers have met their tragic deaths fighting government," he said.
The Defense Chief noted that NPA leaders in rural areas have been yielding to government troops "in droves" while they receive support from the administration to lead new lives.
"The end of your destructive 52 years of misadventure that caused untold misery to our people is near, and it is inevitable and irreversible. It is time for you to face reality," Lorenzana said.
Recently, the Anti-Terrorism Council designated the CPP-NPA as terrorist organizations in what is seen as a final push by the Duterte administration to eliminate the communist rebellion in the country before he steps out of office in 2022.