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| Southeast Asia | |
| NPA in a tactical alliance with MILF | |
| 2004-01-16 | |
| Let us once again remember that secular communists will never work with religious fanatics ... THE anti-tank weapons used by New People’s Army (NPA) guerillas which raided a power plant in Calaca, Batangas, Saturday came from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), according to Defense Sec. Eduardo Ermita. Ermita said Wednesday this confirms the existence of a tactical alliance between the two rebel organizations. The two groups, considered as among the country’s main threats to internal security are both in line for peace talks with the government but may be using ceasefires with military troops to plan out their attacks, said Ermita.
About 50 NPA rebels attacked the National Power Corp. (Napocor) plant in Calaca, Batangas Saturday dawn in what the military called an attempt to sabotage the Luzon power grid. Previous intelligence reports said the NPA, the armed faction of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which has been waging a Maoist rebellion in the country’s rural areas for the past decades, also trains with Moro rebels in guerrilla warfare. During the training programs, arms are swapped and purchased, Ermita said, noting that it is the MILF that has rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), most of which are leftovers purchased in the 1990s after the war in Afghanistan. Troops recovered two light anti-tank weapons left behind by the Calaca raiders. The Law, or the M72-series, is described as "a lightweight, self-contained, anti-armor weapon consisting of a rocket packed in a launcher." Military reports had monitored landings of RPGs in Mindoro early last year while more than 30 heavily-armed communist rebels arrived in Nasugbu, Batangas in southern Luzon from Mindoro last month. "I think that the purchase of the RPGs could have been done several months back. You know it is not that easy to bring that kind of firearms across the seas from Mindanao going to Mindoro." The military however would have to verify the extent of the alliance between the NPA and the MILF and warned that such ties could hamper peace talks anew with the secessionist group, which is fighting for a separate Islamic state in Mindanao. Four soldiers were killed and six others were wounded before dawn Saturday when more than 50 NPA rebels stormed the Napocor plant in Calaca. Despite the Calaca attack, the government is determined to resume formal talks next month with the NPA and the CPP. Details of the talks are being ironed out by both parties and the government of Norway, which is the third party facilitator. Chief government negotiator Silvestre Bello,said the government is waiting for the National Democratic Front (NDF) to sign the joint statement, which would pave the way for the resumption of talks. The NDF is the political umbrella of the CPP and the NPA. Bello said the NDF’s chief negotiator, Luis Jalandoni, had committed to signing the statement. "I have no reason to doubt his words," he said. The talks are expected to resume either on the first or on the second week of February, and will be held either in Thailand or in Vietnam. | |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |