FMOs sowing terrorism in Sta. Catalina
The conduct of focused military operations (FMOs) in the 3rd District of Negros Oriental, particularly in the town of Sta. Catalina, has been synonymous with terrorism.
As these brutal and dirty operations often resulted in mounting cases of grave human rights violations victimizing unarmed civilians and non-combatants.
The FMO was conceived by the fascist-criminal Duterte clique as the “main hand” of its counter-revolutionary war. It aimed to crush the armed revolutionary movement through counter-guerilla deep battle operations.
It has been a dismal failure insofar as this objective is concerned.
From January to October this year, the 11th IB augmented by PNP combat mobile units and paramilitary forces launched five rounds of FMOs in Southeast Negros but resoundingly failed to strike and wipe out any armed unit of the RMPC.
The overwhelming popular support enjoyed by the NPA and the lack thereof in the reactionary armed forces rendered Duterte’s deep battle operations inutile.
Out of frustration in its failure to crush the NPA, the military bent their ire on civilians and engaged in various dastardly acts of trampling the rights of the people and sowing fear through terrorism in vain effort to quell the mass support for the NPA.
From July-September alone more than 40 cases of human rights violations ranging from extra-judicial killing, unlawful arrest and search, torture, harassment, coercion, intimidation, military occupation of communities and the like were documented affecting hundreds of settler-peasants in the areas covered by the FMOs, more particularly Sta. Catalina’s Barangay Talalac.
Furthermore, pressures from its top brass to produce results impelled the 11th IB to manufacture accomplishments like the 55 fake surrenderees and staged mass condemnation rallies against the revolutionary movement and enforced persona non-grata declaration by LGUs and people’s organizations .
Starting December 2, the 11th IB and 705th RMF, commenced its sixth and last round of FMO for 2020. It opened with Sauron-like assaults and raids of the residences of the family of peasant activists in two sitios of Talalac targetted by NTF-ELCAC for liquidation (tokhang) and arrest.
It looks like that the masses in the areas besieged by the ongoing FMO in Sta. Catalina will be celebrating Christmas with fascist guns virtually train in their heads.
FMO and the entire strategy of NTF-ELCAC is doom to fail as it has been thoroughly exposed as a tool of terrorism for the ruling class to perpetuate the unjust semi-colonial and semi-feudal system and Duterte’s fascist and terrorist regime. ####