News update Apayao, Ifugao now NPA-free

AGAWE, Ifugao - There are now more New People's Army (NPA) operating units in the provinces of Apayao and Ifugao, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced Saturday. Major General Rommel Gomez, commanding officer of the Army's 5th Infantry Division based in Isabela, said Apayao and Ifugao now join other provinces in the country where NPA forces have been neutralized. Other provinces in the country earlier declared by the AFP as NPA-free are Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Norte, Biliran, Siquijor, Guimaras, Romblon, Marinduque, and Cavite. Gomez said these are areas where the presence of rebels is virtually invisible or that if there are a few left, they have been disarmed or dislocated, thus, rendering them inactive. He attributed the successful neutralization of the NPA in these areas to the government's comprehensive approach in curbing insurgency, especially in the rural areas. Apart from effective and efficient military operations, Gomez said the communist movement has also significantly weakened its grip on peasant communities who have lost faith in their ideology. Citing updated records from the AFP, Gomez said the NPA now possesses only 95 firearms in Region in Cordillera; 103 in Region 4-B; and 135 in Region 1. He said more NPA rebels have surfaced and joined the mainstream society while the underground movement allegedly is rapidly deteriorating as an organization because of the in-fighting among its leaders and most of its members. This has led to the recent labeling of six more barangays in Mountain Province as "less-influenced" by the communist movement. Gomez assured that more effort is being put in these villages to end the problem of communist insurgency and allow government productivity in these areas as the country braces for a new government administration at the end of the month. By Dexter A. See
Who was the rebel--the traitor--the trans-Susquehanna man or the cis-Susquehanna man?