The death of Jorge Madlos, who was popularly known as Ka Oris, has apparently boosted the morale of the military that its Army commanding general was prompted to express optimism of the defeat of the New People's Army (NPA) by next year.
Ka Oris was among the top leaders and an influential commander of the communist rebels in Mindanao. He died in an encounter in the hinterlands of Impasug-ong, Bukidnon, on Oct. 30, 2021 although his wife has been insisting that he died in an ambush.
Ka Oris is the commander of the National Operations Command which reportedly directs all the operations of the communist rebels nationwide.
"We are optimistic that we can comply with the President's order to end the communist armed conflict by 2022," said Andres Lt. Gen. Centino, commanding general of the Philippine Army.
"We are on track with what the president has mandated us to do. We are capable of doing this. Everything is in place. We have the support of the people, which is the most important. We also have the full support of the administration," he added.
Aside from the death of Ka Oris, Centino also cited the dismantling the Communist Party of the Philippines- New People's Army-National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDF) central committee, regional and sub-regional committees and guerrilla fronts.
These, according to Centino, resulted in the communist rebels' diminished influence in the communities.