NPA rebels better off joining military reserve force—Zubiri

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Wednesday raised a suggestion that members of the New People Army's are better off joining military reserve forces to support their pro-people advocacies.

"My appeal to the left, to the opponents of the government from the left. We are all Filipinos here. Isa lang namana ng hanay natin. We all wanted ang mabuhay ng mapayapa at mabigyan ng pagkakatapon ang ating mga kababayan na mabuhay ng disente through education through livelihood we are all in the same end games," Zubiri said during the deliberation of the Senate Committee on Finance on the 2024 proposed P229.9-billion budget of the Department of National Defense and its attached agencies, .

Zubiri lamented that overthrowing the government through political ideologies has been long gone.

"Yung mga nagnanais na masira ang ating bansa through political means through ideological means—wala na yan sa ibang parte ng mundo wala na yan (Those who want to destroy our country through political means through ideological means—it does not exist anymore in other parts of the world)," he said.

Zubiri said, "These rebellions have already failed and they decided to come together and move forward with the political solution."

"Mas maganda na sumama na lang sila sa atin para mawala yung korapsyon para mawala yung kagutuman at kahirapan (It's better that they join us to eliminate corruption to get rid of the hunger and poverty) he added.

Zubiri urged NPA members to become military reserve forces.

"Imbes na mamaril pa ng kapwa Pilipino, mas maganda mag volunteer na lang sila sumama na lang sila sa reserve force, doon sila ideploy sa Pag-asa Island. Samahan nila ang mga mangingisda natin doon. Mas maganda po 'yun (Instead of shooting your fellow Filipinos, its better that they would volunteer to join us and become part of our reserve force. They can be deployed in Pag-asa Island. They should accompany our fishermen there. It will be better)," he said.

Pag-asa Island, also known as Thitu Island, is 37.2 hectares of rock located in the Spratly Islands and is the largest of the Philippine-administered islands. It lies about 500 kilometers west of Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

Amid the ongoing tensions in the Philippine territorial waters, Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said NPA members should instead join the Reserve Officers' Training Corps to help defend the country against external threats.

"Sana mag-ROTC na lang sila para makatulong (Hopefully, they will join ROTC so they can help)," said Dela Rosa.

On the other hand, Zubiri urged the Armed Forces of the Philippines to take note of the consequences of insurgency-free declaration in various NPA-infiltrated areas.

"May mga recidivist pa rin. Yung mga diehard, hindi mawawala iyon. Kaya minsan, hindi maganda na ina-announce niyo na NPA-free yung probinsya kasi pag ina-announce niyo gumagawa sila ng hakbang, maski nagaling sa labas papasok dooon nanggugulo para lang ipakita na mali ang mga annoucements so we have to be careful (There are still recidivists. Those diehards won't go away. So sometimes, it's not good that you announce that the province is NPA-free because when you announce it, they take steps—even though people from the outside come in there causing trouble just to show that you announcements are wrong, so we have to be careful.)," Zubiri said.

Brawner explained that the declaration of insurgency-free is intended to help the previously NPA-infiltrated areas to attract investment opportunities "after being deprived for long decades due to the security threats posed by rebels."

"We need to declare first the area insurgency-free so that the investors will also come in. They'll feel secure coming into that provinces or regions," he said.

Brawner confirmed Zubiri's remarks that leftists are messing up with the declaration of insurgency-free areas.

"Nangyayari po iyon. Totoo po iyon Mr. Senate President na once we declared an area insurgency-free, ang ginagawa ng makakaliwa is that from the outside nag-iinfiltrate sila (That happens. That's true Mr. Senate President that once we declared an area insurgency-free, what the leftists are doing is that from the outside they are infiltrating in that area)," he said, citing one recent incident in Bicol region where a group of NPA rebels attacked a military detachment to sow fear in the communities.

The success of the Barangay Development Program within identified conflict-affected areas and geographically- isolated and disadvantaged areas, resulted in the "demolition" of rebels is one of the military's parameters in the declaration of insurgency-free.

Brawner noted the huge contributions of the BDP in addressing the root causes of insurgency.

He said the government's BDP allows basic services more accessible to the communities previously infiltrated by the NPA rebels, including farm-to-market roads, and education facilities, among others.