MANILA – The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said Friday it is looking into reports alleging that the Negros Island is the new training ground for new recruits of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Earlier, Noel Legaspi, president of Buklod Kapayapaan Federation, Inc. (BKFI), said remnants of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army – National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) are attempting to rebuild their depleted ranks by bringing recruits, including young people from Metro Manila and foreign nationals, to Negros amid declining community support.
“Negros Island is now training ground for the future cadre,” he said, citing the April 19 Toboso encounter involving three individuals from Metro Manila and two Americans as evidence of recruitment extending beyond the island.
Legaspi, a former CPP official, said the movement’s continued recruitment reflects its rigid adherence to a protracted people’s war despite changing social and political realities and repeated setbacks.
In line with this, Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales, spokesperson of the Joint Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (JRTF-ELCAC) for Western Visayas, which previously included the Negros Island, warned that the recruitment activities coincide with expanding criminal investigations into NPA killings, particularly the execution of civilians accused of being government informants.
Gonzales disclosed that affidavits executed by former rebels since 2019 are being reviewed by the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and police and intelligence authorities to identify perpetrators, locate witnesses, and revive previously unresolved cases.
He said investigators are examining possible links between material support and violent activities.
He noted that more than 500 individuals in Negros could potentially provide information against NPA operatives, including former rebels and people affected by intimidation.
The continuing killings, he said, have generated resentment among victims’ families and communities.
