Gen. Andres Centino, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), is focused on accomplishing President Duterte’s orders to the military to end communist insurgency in the country before the end of his term, or in about five months.
Centino gathered all the major services and unified commanders during the year-end command conference at the AFP General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on Tuesday, Jan. 25, to remind them of their primary mission.
“As your Chief of Staff, I am taking the lead in this final push of our campaign. I enjoin everyone to maintain our momentum, sustain our gains, and remain victorious. Let us finish the local armed conflict within the President’s term. As the Armed Forces of the Filipino people, we shall not fail them in their desire of having a peaceful and secure society,” Centino told the generals.
The AFP Chief directed commanders to intensify their operations “with a sense of urgency” and focus on defeating the remaining local threat groups through intelligence-driven combat operations.
He also ordered the redeployment of troops in areas where the remaining forces of communist groups are based.
He directed the commanders to “launch decisive engagements aimed at destroying the enemies’ will to fight, cut-off their source of funds and logistics support, and hit the enemy leadership hard.”
In 2021, the AFP neutralized 43 leaders of the New People’s Army (NPA) and Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Among them were Jorge Madlos, Menandro Villanueva, Pedro Codaste, Eddie Genelsa, and Maria Loida Tuso Magpatoc —all members of the CPP Politburo Committee, or their central committee.
Ten guerilla fronts were also dismantled while over 3,000 party and underground organization members and supporters withdrew their membership from the CPP and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
The AFP also recorded the surrender of hundreds of members of local terrorist groups. Included were 144 members of Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), 41 members of Dawla Islamiyah (DI), and 249 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
Aside from this, Centino also instructed the commanders to actively support the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the peaceful and orderly conduct of the May 9 national and local elections.
“Let us once again be reminded to isolate ourselves from partisan politics so we can focus on our noble mandate of protecting the people and the State. We must avoid participating in any partisan political activities, except to exercises our individual right to vote,” Centino said.
Duterte, whose six-year term as president will end in June, previosuly directed the military and police to finish communist insurgency before he steps out of office.
A new president and Commander-in-Chief will be named in June after the May elections.