Brigadier General Eric Vinoya, the Armed Forces’ Joint Task Force (JTF) Negros commander) | Photo courtesy of 3ID
DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental — Brigadier General Eric Vinoya, the Armed Forces’ Joint Task Force (JTF) Negros commander, hit back at Bayani Obrero, spokesperson of the National Democratic Front (NDF)-Negros, saying the rebel leader was “hallucinating” for describing as an “illusion” the desire for an insurgency-free island.
To recall, Obrero in a statement said the military commanders’ “heads are swollen with the illusion of destroying local insurgency in Negros by end of 2019.”
In response, Vinoya said it is the clamor of the Negrenses to end the local communist conflict in the island and he is confident that with the help of the people, the insurgency problem on Negros Island will come to an end.
“Who are you to insult and belittle the Negrenses’ fervent desire to end your senseless and bloody armed struggle? If there is someone who is hallucinating, it is you who is very desperate to destroy the concerted efforts of the people to stand against your ruthlessness and even have the guts to beg for their support. You will not get any support from them for they have already chosen to embrace the culture of peace,”Vinoya said in a statement on Wednesday, October 2.
The NDF-Negros also accused the government of “intimidating” the local government units to declare the insurgents as persona-non-grata.
In response the JTF-Negros commander said the cry of the people have been heard as it is the local government units in Negros Island themselves that have declared the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Party (CPP-NPA)-NDF as persona-non-grata.
This only shows that the people are fed up of the atrocities committed by the rebels, he added.
Vinoya emphasized that the JTF-Negros will hit hard on rebels carrying out violence and terror against the people.
He reiterated his call for the rebels to lay down their arms and go back to the folds of the law.
“We are giving you a last chance to surrender before you will be hit by the iron fist of the JTF Negros,”Vinoya said.
The JTF-Negros commander appealed to the Negrenses to continue to support the government in it’s effort to end the armed conflict with the local communists./elb