• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The United States Embassy has warned Americans of the dangers posed by the New People’s Army (NPA), following the deaths of its two citizens during an armed encounter in Toboso, Negros Occidental on April 19.
Confirming the presence of two Americans, who were among the 19 individuals killed, the US Embassy advised Americans to abide with local laws and to avoid situations with elevated security risks.
The fatalities, Lyle Prijoles and Kai Dana-Rene Sorem, are affiliated with Bayan and Anakbayan USA, tagged by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as legal fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
The US Embassy advisory stated that the NPA is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the US and Philippine governments.
It said anyone in proximity of NPA elements is at grave risk of arrest, injury, or death, stressing that foreign terrorist organizations actively recruit Americans to participate directly in terrorist activities and/or provide financial support.
Americans seeking to engage in humanitarian activities should work with groups registered with the Philippines National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency and obtain the correct visa, it added.
“Volunteer groups should also coordinate with local governments, which can provide reliable security information and local context,” the advisory said
In a statement, NTF-ELCAC executive director Ernesto Torres Jr. said the US Embassy security alert warning its citizens against the dangers posed by the NPA is a recognition that Americans are drawn into violence by organizations linked to the communist insurgents.
“This is perhaps the first direct and explicit recognition by the US government that its own citizens are being drawn into violence by organizations linked to the CPP-NPA-NDF,” Torres said.
He noted that the advisory is “both timely and significant as it states that the “NPA is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the governments of the United States and the Philippines.”
More importantly, it underscores a critical reality that has long been denied or downplayed, Torres said.
“Foreign terrorist organizations actively recruit Americans to participate directly in terrorist activities and/or provide financial support,” he added. | GB
