The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Monday expressed hope that the death of Jorge Madlos alias “Ka Oris” of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) would mean that the CPP-NPA Terrorist’s (CNT) “delusions” are buried with him.
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Undersecretary and NTF-ELCAC spokesperson for sectoral concerns Lorraine Marie Badoy made this statement after Madlos was killed along with a fellow rebel in a 30-minute gunfight with government troops in the mountains of Bukidnon on Saturday.
“We hope Ka Oris brings down to his grave the delusions of the terrorist CPP-NPA-NDF that they can ever hope to win their senseless war fueled by an obsolete and inhumane ideology more so when they are fighting a people galvanized in fierce rejection of it and in defense of the Republic,” she said in a press statement.
Badoy said the NTF-ELCAC lauds the neutralization of Madlos but “do not rejoice” over the killing of a Filipino by fellow Filipinos.
“Nor do we rejoice that superior military action was what it took to stop this man from hurting our people. Not a peaceful dialogue between brothers, but a most decisive show of force in neutralizing a butcher who was directly responsible for so much death and destruction,” she added.
She said “Ka Oris” had blood dripping off his hands “at the countless crimes against humanity he himself strategized and implemented.”
“He also played a lead role in the recruitment and radicalization of the helpless, the most gullible among us, mutating them into violent extremists of the NPA that brought them deeper into poverty or ended their lives,” she said.
Madlos’ death, she said, brought the country a step closer to ending a war that ended the lives of countless Filipinos and obstructed the country’s progress.
“What we rejoice in is that now this terrorist who was a cut above all terrorists can no longer harm the Filipino people. And that his death will send the clear signal to those who persist in the futility of fighting government that the only sensible option left for them is to lay down their arms peacefully and rejoin civil society,” she said.
She is also hopeful that Madlos’ demise would only be the start of ongoing efforts to ensure long-lasting peace in the country.
“The sweet peace that has long eluded us is finally at arm’s reach. George Madlos, butcher and madman, communist terrorist and violent extremist is no more,” she added.
Badoy also thanked the Armed Forces of the Philippines- (AFP), particularly the 403rd Infantry Brigade under Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID) under Maj. Gen. Romeo Brawner, for launching their anti-insurgency operations.
“They who fought this lonely war by themselves and who held our country safely in their arms with no thought for their own personal safety- until this singular President created the National Task Force ELCAC so that now the Filipino people stand United with them in finally ending this bloody chapter in our Nation’s history,” she added.
Maj. Francisco Garello Jr., chief of the Army’s Division of Public Affairs Office, said Madlos was killed, together with another rebel in a 30-minute gunfight and ground assault in Sitio Gabunan, Dumalaguing, Impasugong.
The military launched the operations about 12:30 a.m. after receiving reports about the presence of heavily armed men conducting indoctrination and teach-ins in the area.
Madlos was the commander and spokesperson of the NPA’s national operations command and spokesperson of the NDF in Mindanao.
He was wanted for criminal cases such as murder, multiple murders with double frustrated murder, and robbery with double homicide and damage to properties.
Madlos killed in encounter
Meanwhile, AFP spokesperson Col. Ramon Zagala maintained that Madlos was killed in a legitimate encounter, refuting claims from the communist terrorists that he was ambushed.
“Jorge Madlos alias ‘Ka Oris’ was killed in an encounter against troops from the 403rd Brigade last October 30, 2021 at Sitio Gabunan, Barangay Dumalaguing, Impasug-ong Bukidnon. He is the Commander, National Operations Command, NPA Spokesperson, and a member of the Central Committee-Execom/Politburo,” Zagala said in a statement.
Zagala added that being at the top leadership of the NPA, Madlos is protected round-the-clock by more or less 40 communist terrorists.
He said it is unlikely that he will move without these armed elements as claimed by the NPA.
“We are expecting the communist terrorist group to continue to misdirect the public on the circumstances of this huge loss in the CPP-NPA leadership. As such, we are firm and will stand by our troops on the ground on the legitimacy of this successful encounter,” Zagala added.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The NDF has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and separate part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973.
Source: Philippines News Agency
