IP chieftain urges children of slain NPA leader to yield

The Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) of San Miguel, Surigao del Sur, is calling on the children of slain New People’s Army (NPA) ranking leader Manuel Anob to surrender and return to their families peacefully.

In a phone interview on Monday, Datu Rico Maca said Anob has two children who are still active in the NPA movement.

Maca visited the wake of Anob on Saturday in Barangay Caromata, San Miguel.

Anob was the secretary of the NPA’s Sub-Regional Committee Westland and one of the leaders of the weakened Guerrilla Front 21 operating in the Caraga Re- gion.

He was killed in an encounter with government forces on March 30 in Barangay San Juan, Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur. NPA’s Caraga units also lost ranking leaders – a regional finance officer and a medical staff –

In a statement, the NTFELCAC pointed out the attacks are in flagrant and utter disregard for the welfare and safety of thousands of pupils, teachers and their communities, noting schools are peace zones.

“The communist terrorist’s violent design is clear -- launch attacks near schools and other vulnerable public places to sow fear and confusion in a desperate but, ultimately, futile bid to project an image of strength, to coerce and blackmail the government to submit to a ceasefire, and fall into the trap of another round of national peace talks with the CPP-NPA and their allies in the National Democratic Front (NDF),” it said.

“It is for this reason that the NTF-ELCAC joins Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte and our partners in the education sector in calling out and condemning the communist terrorist perpetrators, their insidious enablers and callous conspirators who should be held to account for these transgressions,” it added.

The NTF-ELCAC noted that such tactics “are among the oldest and dirtiest tricks in this enemy’s

On the other hand, the NTFELCAC supported the Vice President’s stand in rejecting calls by the Alliance of Concerned Teachers for peace talks.

It likewise commiserated with the victims of the CPP-NPA’s latest assaults on peace -- children who were subjected to the trauma of explosions and gunfire, teachers and pupils alike fearing for their lives and safety as soldiers and innocent civilians were treacherously attacked.

“To those who were harmed, maimed or killed, we grieve and offer our sincerest sympathies. To the cowards who perpetrate these attacks, we swear the righteous justice of our laws and that of God. On the face of these assaults against our nation’s peace by the cowards of the CPP-NPA, we shall continue to bring genuine progress and meaningful development to the people and communities victimized by this 54-year insanity of the CPP-NPANDF,” it said.

The NTF-ELCAC also vowed to protect all peace-loving peoples and their communities and keep them safe from all forms of threats and to relentlessly run after those who commit the abominable and bring them to justice.