LEONARDO PACSI COMMAND
NPA Mountain Province Provincial Operations Command
Two punitive attacks were successfully launched by the Leonardo Pacsi Command (LPC), New People’s Army Mountain Province, against a commando unit of operating troops of the 50th Infantry Battalion and 503rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army on 15 – 16 November at the boundary of the towns of Besao and Sagada in Mountain Province and Tubo in Abra province. At least three soldiers were seriously wounded in the said military action of the LPC. Instead of helping the nation recover from the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda, the 5th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army chooses to spend millions of pesos on military operations.
The said commando unit secretly entered the vicinity of Mount Tabbak on 14 November. But unknowingly, this was monitored by the people’s army. The following day, a team of NPA Red fighters sniped at the advancing enemy troops. And on 16 November, the NPA attacked the same troops while they were resting at Mount Amtinangad.
Since the second week of November, the 5th Infantry Division PA, combined with troops of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF) and Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) of the Cordillera, launched a widespread combat operation covering the towns of Sagada, Besao, Bontoc, Tadian and Sadanga of Mountain Province; Tubo and Boliney of Abra; and Quirino, Cervantes, and other towns of Ilocos Sur. Earlier, unabated and synchronized military operations also by troops of the 5th ID-PA and PNP already started in the provinces of Kalinga, Ifugao and Isabela.
This massive combat operation was launched amidst the grievous suffering of millions of our countrymen in the Visayas where thousands have died and entire towns and cities have been totally devastated due to the onslaught of supertyphoon Yolanda. The entire world has witnessed the inefficiency and incompetence of the Aquino government in providing relief and rehabilitation services to the calamity victims. Instead of concentrating on providing much needed assistance to the storm victims, the 5th ID and PNP are shamelessly and insultingly spending millions of pesos on a massive military operation while survivors of typhoon Yolanda are dying from hunger, and chaos is breaking out in a lot of areas due to lack of food and water.
It is only too contemptuous that the Aquino regime claims to lack funds for relief goods, medical supplies and rehabilitation services for the calamity victims while it spends billions of pesos on warfare logistics and combat operations! This just shows the brazenly anti-people character of the Benigno Aquino administration which is outrageously insensitive to the dire situation of the people in times of calamities. It is unreasonably focused on its desperate attempt to neutralize the armed revolutionary movement led by the CPP-NPA-NDFP by the end of the year 2013 under the framework of its counter-insurgency scheme called Oplan Bayanihan.
Just like typhoon Yolanda, military operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and PNP only wreak havoc upon the lives and properties of the common people. These military operations pave the way for the entrance of destructive and plunderous mining and energy business ventures of foreign and local capitalists. Through the use of brutal force and psychological warfare, these military operations aim to undermine the unity and struggle of the national minorities defending their ancestral lands against foreign and local land grabbers and plunderers. Arbitrary and widespread bombings and machinegun strafing during military operations cause extensive damage on people’s lives, properties, communities and the environment. In these life-threatening combat operations, arbitrary arrests and murder of civilians result in intense fear while martial law type control of the people’s activities result in hunger among the peasants who are not allowed to attend to their ricefields and swidden farms.
The massive military operation amidst the tragic and desperate situation of our countrymen clearly shows whose interests the AFP, PNP and the entire US-Aquino regime serve. The people have no other option but to firmly resolve to further strengthen and expand their unity and fight against the aggression and plunder of their natural wealth perpetrated by imperialists and local capitalists accompanied by the widespread terrorism carried out by the AFP, PNP and their paramilitary groups. These fascist operating troops should be driven away and indemnification should be demanded for the wanton destruction of livelihood, properties, environment, culture, dignity and lives of the people.
Relief operations for our countrymen in the Visayas, not destructive military operations, are the call of our people. The successful military actions of the Leonardo Pacsi Command against the 5th ID is in response to the widespread indignation of the people against the calamitous effect of military operations of the AFP and PNP. These also serve as punitive acts against the AFP and PNP troops who are insanely holding violent combat operations instead of actively participating in the relief and rehabilitation of calamity victims in the Visayas.