CEBU CITY – The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), are losing their foothold in the Visayas, the Visayas Command (VISCOM) said on Wednesday, Jan. 19.
VISCOM said the communist terrorists' weakening foothold in the Visayas is attributed to the degrading support as shown in the increasing number of information provided by the community itself which translated into successful internal security and law enforcement operations of the government troops.
VISCOM said that through a tip of an informant, government troops dealt a major setback to the CPP-NPA during an encounter in Sitio Manlibod, Barangay Sandayao, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental last January 15.
During the encounter, one communist terrorist was killed while four others were apprehended; two of which were wounded during the incident.
Likewise, two firearms were recovered along with several live ammunition, personal belongings, and several subversive documents.
VISCOM disclosed that since January 1, 2021, a total of 52 communist terrorists were neutralized through an encounter while 14 were neutralized through joint law enforcement operations with the police. Likewise, during the said period a total of 130 firearms were also recovered.
These are apart from the 97 communist terrorists who already returned to the folds of the law, and yielded a total of 34 firearms and the 977 supporters/sympathizers who withdrew their support from the said terrorist group.
“These developments in our fight against the communist terrorists are indications that they are losing their ground here in the Visayas, as the people themselves embraced the government’s whole – of – nation approach being the right mechanism that will address their concerns,"
Lt. Gen. Robert Dauz, Commander of VISCOM, said in a statement.
"The sustained internal security operations and law enforcement operations of your government troops coupled with the overwhelming support from the local government units and the general public have proven to be too much for the communist terrorists. Their leaders continue to fall in the long arms of justice while their disgruntled members surrender in droves to the government," Dauz added.