CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Philippine Army reminded barangay officials of their vital role in the government’s sustainment effort which it said is the hardest part of fighting insurgency in the country.

Major Gen. Michele Anayron Jr., commander of the 403rd Brigade, said there is a possibility that the number of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels will increase if the local government, barangay, and government agencies are unable to sustain the areas that have been cleared by the military of communist influence.

THE Area Police Command-Eastern Mindanao presents six firearms and 38 magazines recovered in Barangay San Rafael, Talakag, Bukidnon, on January 6. (Franck Dick Rosete)

“Because they (referring to the NPA) did not stop in recruiting, they did not stop in recovering the area,” Anayron said in a press conference at the Police Regional Office-Northern Mindanao on Monday, January 8, where the Area Police Command-Eastern Mindanao presented six firearms and 38 magazines they recovered in Barangay San Rafael, Talakag, Bukidnon, on January 6.

These weapons composed of five M16 rifles and a caliber .45 pistol were concealed underground by the Platoon Mercedes, Sub-Regional Committee 5, North Central Mindanao Regional Committee, and were recovered through the revelation of a former comrade.

Anayron made the remark following questions they received about the number of NPA members in a certain area provided by the military which accordingly might not translate to the communist rebels’ actual strength.

A situation was cited by the 403rd Brigade commander where the NPA’s strength in the eastern part of Misamis Oriental province had ten to 12 members from 2005 to 2007 but they ballooned to over 100 in 2010 because addressing the root cause of insurgency in the areas was not sustained.

In Bukidnon, which the 403rd Brigade partly serves, Anayron said the people would somehow believe that they would get immediate justice through the help of the NPA if the government failed to do so, explaining a typical conflict among the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) about their ancestral domains where some of the tribe members would accordingly reach out to the communist group if they knew that the others had already tapped the government.

Anayron stressed the importance of reaching out to both parties so that they would feel that the government is not taking one side of the story. “That’s the challenge there in Bukidnon,” he added.

He underscored the significance of the sustainment effort, especially the participation of local government units and national government agencies, because addressing the root cause of the insurgency requires a whole-government approach.

When he visited the PRO-10 here last July, Philippine National Police chief Police Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. also emphasized good governance in ending the armed conflict, saying that insurgency would start to build up in areas where government services are inadequate.

READ: https://mb.com.ph/2023/7/8/good-governance-best-way-to-end-insurgency-in-mindanao-pnp

Anayron said barangay officials know their role in the sustainment effort, but he said they are ready to talk to those who lack support, stressing that they need to do their job as duly elected village officials.

There is no problem, he said, with the participation of the local chief executives of the local government units as well as the officials of the province of Bukidnon, as they have strong coordination with the military, citing the December 25 encounter in Sitio Kiito, Barangay Can-ayan, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, where the provincial government immediately provided relief goods to the affected communities.

READ: https://mb.com.ph/2023/12/26/10-npa-dead-in-dec-25-gunbattle-in-bukidnon

The 403rd Brigade serves 11 municipalities in Bukidnon and four municipalities in Agusan del Sur.\

TWO former rebels receive initial assistance from the government after they helped police recover an arms cache concealed underground in Barangay San Rafael, Talakag, Bukidnon, on January 6. (Franck Dick Rosete)

During the press conference, two former rebels received initial assistance from the government due to their help in recovering the arms cache in Talakag, Bukidnon.