Turf War in Reaffirmists’ Solid North Looms

Splinter groups from the leftist revolutionary movement are trying to gain foothold in the Ilocos and Abra provinces in northern Philippines, where the communist-led New People’s Army (NPA) has been operating for several years. To military authorities, however, the turf war is a boon to government’s anti-insurgency campaign.

By ACE ALEGRE
Bulatlat.com

STA LUCIA, Ilocos Sur – Splinter “leftist” groups are trying to gain foothold in the so-called “Solid North” turf of the “mainstream” New People’s Army (NPA) even as it was repelled in the past, the latest issue of Dangadang (Struggle), an underground revolutionary newspaper of the Communist Party of the Philippines-Northwestern Luzon region said.

This developed as military intelligence authorities recently revealed “sightings” of armed dissidents who were not from the mainstream CPP-NPA. The armed rebels, they said, were recruiting villagers in some upland towns of Abra and southern Ilocos Sur.

So far, the same reports said, no violent skirmishes have taken place between the two contending forces unlike in the Zambales peninsula and Bataan where at least seven rebels from the outnumbered “rejectionist” Rebolusyunaryong Hukbong Bayan (RHB) have died in encounters with the numerically-superior NPA.

‘Turf war’

Two years ago, Dangadang said, organizers from the “contras” (counter-revolutionaries) tried to recruit mass organizations identified with the mainstream revolutionary movement by sowing internal intrigues. It cited organizers from the Central Luzon-based Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya (KPD) and its Youth for Nationalism and Democracy (YND) trying to recruit organized youth and student groups in Baguio City.

KPD organizers, Dangadang also said, have also tried to win over and recruit members from the San Roque Dam-affected families in barangay Dalupirip, Itogon, Benguet and workers from Philex Mines in Tuba town, also in Benguet. In La Union, the paper added, KPD organizers have also tried to sow intrigues and offer money to leaders of tobacco farmers and fisherfolk groups and wooing them to join another organization under the umbrella of the “contras.”

Alab Katipunan, another alleged leftist group reportedly led by Nilo dela Cruz, erstwhile chief of the Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB), has also been trying to recruit members through Save Ilocos Sur Alliance (SISA) leader Nestor Seiguismundo, the underground publication said. SISA reportedly mounted an active protest against juetengate whistle blower Luis “Chavit” Singson after the Estrada impeachment trial. Seiguismundo was earlier linked to former President Joseph Estrada by his estranged wife.

November last year, Dangadang said, Manila-based Alab Katipunan organizers formed the Ilocos Sur Federation of Farmers and Fishermen (ISFFF). In February this year, the ISFFF held its assembly supported by anti-Singson warlord-politicians, it said. The underground paper claimed that the Alab Katipunan led-ISFFF was primarily formed to gain fund access to the allotted 40 percent farmer’s group fund from the RA 7171 (Tobacco Excise Tax law).

‘Armed group recruitment’

Dangadang also reported that the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) formerly based in Negros Peninsula, central Philippines has also deployed armed organizers to Ilocos Sur last February but failed to recruit villagers to join their reported 14-man army. Last May, an armed unit of the RPA-ABB was tipped off by villagers to the NPA in Burgos, Ilocos Sur and Pilar, Abra. The underground publication alleged that the said armed unit was masquerading as SISA organizers.

Again last month, in Pilar town, Abra policemen reported the presence of armed men, not members of the NPA nor armed followers of politicians, who stayed inside a village for several days recruiting and “extorting” food. Lt. Col. Juanito Dalmas, commander of the Abra-based 17th Infantry Battalion said the group came from Ilocos Sur for recruitment in Pilar.

Dangadang, published quarterly and distributed to all underground organizations under the mainstream CPP and all units of the NPA operating in the Ilocos and Cordillera Region, did not elaborate what actions the NPA will take to neutralize the presence of armed organizers of the RPA-ABB.

Earlier, NOLCOM chief Maj. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia told reporters that the factionalism in the communist movement in the region has been a boon to government’s anti-insurgency campaign. Bulatlat.com

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