Masses collectively overcome RCSP ops in Samar
The relentless year-long Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP) operationsof the AFP in a town in Western Samar have failed to crush the unity of the peasant masses and stop their support for the revolution. The town was among the list of guerrilla fronts declared “dismantled” by the 8th Infantry Division.
During this period, soldiers repeatedly summoned peasants in their camps to force them to “surrender” and perform anti-people tasks like serving as military assets or spies. They are also forced to lie, pose as someone “who went down the mountains because of its hardships,” or “admit” to being a militia unit member, the local Party committee, or committee of the local Pambansang Katipunan ng mga Magbubukid chapter.
In a vilage, residents decided that no one will heed the summons of soldiers as a way to fight the military’s fascist repression. But after this, police and military elements pretended to be civilians and repeatedly entered their village to search for those who have disobeyed them.
Residents complain of being unable to tend to their farms fearing police and military surveillance. Compared to the height of the lockdown, they experience worse hunger due to troubles caused by military operations.
To guard against AFP and PNP elements or assets entering the village, residents man outposts day and night. They also log anyone who enters and leaves the village. They placed logs on roads to block police and military vehicles and motorcyles from entering the village.