Poor Negrenses now rising to denounce Reds
THE Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) continues to lose ground in Negros Island, especially in Silay City and its nearby areas in Negros Occidental, after village residents organized themselves and launch a protest rally in the city last August 28, 2021.
About 250 individuals, most of them members of Hacienda Culahao-C Farmer Workers Association (HACUFWA) and Hacienda Nenita Farmer Workers Association (HANFAWA) from Bgy. E. Lopez, took their oath of allegiance to the Philippine government before village chief Meriam Gallego, according to the press statement released by the 79th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.
It can be recalled that the CPP and its front organizations are trying to downplay the death in Silay City of one of its top leaders, Kerima ‘Ka Ella’ Tariman, last August 20, 2021, by picturing her as a “poet” and a “revolutionary martyr” after a clash with the 79th IB (see also Pinoy Expose Issue No. 32/33).
Aside from publicly denouncing the atrocities of the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), the villagers also burned a communist flag in front of other local officials headed by Mayor Mark Golez and officials from the military and the Philippine National Police.
Lt. Col. J-jay Javines, 79th IB commander, in a statement, commended the initiative of residents.
“This clearly shows that the peace-loving residents of E. Lopez can no longer endure their suffering.
Their pledge to withdraw their support from the armed group is a bold step towards ending (the communist) insurgency,” he said.
HACUFWA chairman Arnilo Serquillos said the Community Support Program (CSP) team of the Army and the police assisted them in registering their association with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
“We have long wanted to register, but the organizer just asked money from us, and it never happened. That’s why we were not able to avail of government programs. Through the help of the CSP team, we were finally able to register with the DOLE,” he added.
During the activity initiated by the 32nd Civil-Military Operations Battalion and the 1st Negros Occidental Provincial Mobile Force Company (NOCPMFC), the participants signed the resolution of the Barangay Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (BTF-ELCAC) condemning and declaring as ‘persona non grata,’ those aiding the CPP-NPA.
They also raised placards calling for an end to the terrorists’ activities, including harassments and recruitment of minors.
Javines, who was joined by Maj. Fernando Somblingo Jr., officer-in-charge of 1st NOCPMFC; and Lt. Col. Robert Petate, chief of Silay City Police Station, during the event, urged residents of E. Lopez to work with the Army and police as well as with the local government unit and other government agencies to “put an end to the decades-long ruthlessness of the CPP-NPA” (with additional report from the Philippine News Agency).
