NPA destroyed P2.17B worth of property in Mindanao this year

New People's Army's atrocities have caused damage to property and equipment worth P2.17 billion in the Eastern Mindanao area in 2017, a scourge tantamount to "economic sabotage," the Armed Forces of the Philippines said Saturday.

AFP spokesperson Major General Restituto Padilla, Jr. in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB said that the over P2-billion figure represents an accumulated damage from NPA attacks in “more than 50” incidents of burning and destroying business implements from January to November 2017.

“This was based on field reports submitted and duly validated" on the ground,” Padilla said in a text message to GMA News Online.

In the radio interview, he also said that there was a 2000-percent increase in the rate of destruction from the 2016 accumulated figure estimated at “more than P100 million” in 36 hostile incidents.

“Nakita po natin na napakalaki at napakataas ng itinaas ng kanilang mga ginawang kaguluhan at epekto sa ating ekonomiya kaya nga po sinasabi natin napakalaki ang economic sabotage na ginagawa nila, sinisira nila ang ating ekonomiya…” he said.

And this is on top of the AFP’s “modest estimate” of P2.2 billion in “extorted money” from mining companies among other businesses that the rebel group has collected in the Mindanao area, he pointed out. 

He told GMA News Online that the estimate was based on a study by the Eastern Mindanao Command.

“Ang ating pakiwari diyan ay ginagamit nila ito para sustenahan ang kanilang mga puwersa na patuloy pong nanlalaban sa ating pamahalaan,” he added. 

“At maaari ang kalakihan niyan ay hindi sa kanilang armadong grupo, kung hindi sa mga taong nasa malayong lugar at iba pa nilang mga liderato.” 

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday signed a proclamation declaring the end of peace negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA-National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDFP).

The reason, the presidential spokesperson said, was the “engage[ment] of the NDFP-CPP-NPA in acts of violence and hostilities.”

This was echoed by Padilla, who alluded to a “lack of sincerity” on the part of the CPP-NPA-NDFP even amid peace negotiations.

Also, he said that the NDFP should be blamed for President Duterte's decision to cancel the peace talks.

Earlier, CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison accused Duterte of “sabotaging” the negotiations.

Military operations against “criminal and lawless elements” have continued after the proclamation, said Padilla, their focus trained on Eastern Mindanao, where Padilla said NPA forces are concentrated and have been recruiting Lumads (indigenous people).

Other NPA atrocities constituting "economic sabotage" include seizure of livestock and raids on fish-and-crab farms in some areas. 

On the other hand, some peoples' organizations have accused the AFP of killing Lumad and human rights advocates and displacing communities in their military operations.

But Padilla said that while the national-level peace negotiations have been terminated, local-level peace efforts continue. 

“Bagamat ang national level peace talks ay nakansela na ng ating mahal na pangulo dahil sa walang sinseridad na pinakita ng ating mga kaharap diyan, yung sa lokal na level, nagpapatuloy pa rin po ang ating paghihimok sa ating mga kababayan upang magbaba ng armas,” he said. —LBG, GMA News