DA CHIEF ASKS AFP, PNP TO STOP NPA RECRUITMENTS OF FARMERS
MANILA, JANUARY 11, 2011 (STAR) By Cecille Suerte Felipe - Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala yesterday urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to help the national government in the campaign against insurgency by reaching out to farmers who are usually recruited to join the rebel group.
Alcala said there are police stations in every district, making it possible for PNP members to feel the pulse of the community, particularly that of the farmers. Alcala was the guest of honor and speaker during the flag raising ceremony of the PNP in Camp Crame in Quezon City yesterday.
The DA chief said farmers are vulnerable to recruitment by the New People's Army (NPA) rebels, who capitalize on the purportedly insufficient support of the government to the hardworking farmers.
"We should entice our farmers considered the most vulnerable segments of our society and encourage them to just work honorably," Alcala said.
By reaching out to farmers nationwide, Alcala noted that the PNP would be able to convey to them the programs and projects of the national government, thereby preventing the rebels from recruiting them.
"We cannot defeat the bad elements, but we can win the war against criminality," the DA chief added.
Alcala, who served as a congressman of Quezon province's second district, recalled that there were farmers in the province who turned down invitations of rebel groups to join the movement.
In response, the PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said the PNP has programs to reach out to farmers being enticed to join the rebel movement.
"We have our projects to ensure rebels will not be able to recruit our farmers," said Cruz, who noted that regional, provincial directors have been directed to counter the rebel recruitment by disseminating information about government projects for the farmers.
However, the DA and the PNP won't be alone on their mission. The military also vowed yesterday to cooperate with the Agriculture Department to prevent the communist rebels from recruiting more farmers.
"We are willing to coordinate and help the Department of Agriculture to address the problem of insurgency in the country," Armed Forces public affairs chief Lt. Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said in an interview.
Similar to the statement of the DA chief, Burgos noted that farmers are vulnerable to the recruitment activities of the NPA.
"The farmers are the first targets because they are in the hinterlands and interior areas. They are the first ones who come into contact with the rebels," he added.
He also remarked that more than half of the around 4,100 insurgents are farmers.
Meanwhile, Cruz said the PNP leadership is still studying the demands of the rebel leaders to release NPA leader Tirso Alcantara, alias Ka Bart, from police custody. Alcantara is part of the policymaking body of the NPA and commander of the regional operational command of the NPA's Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee (STRPC).
"The PNP is still studying the matter since they are claiming that their arrested rebel leaders are part of the implementation of the peace process," said Cruz.
The PNP spokesman maintained that the arrest of Alcantara and other rebel leaders was anchored on the warrants of arrest from court. He said that the court will determine where the arrested personalities will be detained. – With Alexis Romero
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