The New People’s Army Roselyn Pelle Command yesterday issued a stern warning to their former comrades who may betray the revolutionary movement, telling them that they may become targets of punitive actions, if they allow themselves to be used as informants of the military.
Rebel spokesperson Ka Cecil Estrella said the civilian status of rebel surrenderees may be compromised , based on the Rules of War, if they become active assets of the military’s counter-revolutionary campaign.
In a statement they issued, Estrella clarified that not all surrenderees are target of the NPA, but only those who commit themselves to betray the revolutionary movement, cooperate with the enemy, and are active in spying and running after the revolutionary forces.
Rebel returnee Freddie Sanchez, one of the 40 ex-NPA members who availed of financial and livelihood assistance from the provincial government of Negros Occidental, was assassinated in January, allegedly by his former comrades, military and police records showed.
Estrella also came to the rescue of Richard Dacal-Dacal who was wrongly accused of killing Sergio Villadar in Brgy. Libertad, Escalante City, despite admission by the NPA that they were behind his death.
“Dacal-Dacal has no connection whatsoever to the death of Villadar, and it is a clear case of injustice to put him in jail,” she added.
Estrella laughed off claims of Col. Oscar Lactao, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, that the NPA in northern Negros has been downgraded.
She claimed that the NPA remains intact in northern Negros, adding that Lactao may have been “daydreaming” in his claims.
Estrella also said that not a single active NPA member had surrendered to the military. Those so-called surrenderees paraded by the military had long left the movement, while many others had never joined the NPA, she said.
She also claimed that the Negros First program of Governor Alfredo Maranon does not address what she calls the worsening hunger and poverty. Instead, it only serves the interest of the landlords, businessmen and bureaucrats in the government, she said.
With the 43rd founding anniversary of the NPA on March 29, Estrella said the red fighters in northern Negros pledge to further strengthen their resolve, determination, daring and courage in advancing the revolutionary armed struggle towards a strategic stalemate in the years to come.*GPB
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