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The threat of the New People’s Army (NPA) to intensify its attacks
on civilian targets is merely an act of desperation bordering on
terrorism, said Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Monday.
“This already borders on terrorism, which is
highly condemnable because the ideology behind it is very
questionable. The more they are weakened, the more desperate they
become,” Teodoro told reporters in a chance interview at Camp
Aguinaldo.
“The statement that they will intensify
attacks, specifically on businesses…to me is a function of their
thinking and their mentality which is really adverse to the national
interest and I condemn that kind of thinking,” the defense chief
added.
The Philippine National Police has gone on a
nationwide full alert since Friday night against possible
hostilities by the local communist movement, which celebrated its
39th founding anniversary last March 28.
As far as Teodoro is concerned, the military
commanders should not ignore the latest NPA threat in safeguarding
the communities.
“The general plan is to guard specific
communities and perhaps through adequate intelligence work,
commanders in certain areas may want to factor (that) into their
preparations. But once again, more importantly, is the general
concept of condemning this kind of (rebel) thinking,” Teodoro
pointed out.
Military authorities estimate the number of NPA
fighters to be a little less than 6,000 with 87 guerilla fronts
across the country. The rebel group reached its peak of 27,000
fighters in the late 1980s.
The government’s peace negotiations with the
National Democratic Front (NDF), the umbrella organization of
mainstream communist groups, have remained to be a deadlock since
August 2004 when the CPP-NPA-NDF protested their reclassification as
terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
-- Maricel V. Cruz
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