Paul_QLD Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 OK I read on another post about a member wanting to know info about circumnavigating around Samar and to be wary of the NPA, mainly at night ... And I assume this is the Samar south of Luzon and attached to Tacloban/Leyte via the San Juanico Bridge. Well what is the NPA and how much of an actual threat are they to locals and foreigners alike. In particular say a foreigner and his filipino partner if they were out and about casually doing some sight seeing.I did a quick websearch, but would rather hear from you guys here - it's usually more entertaining :)Another reason I asked is I spent a week in the province in southern leyte doing a bit of driving around and can't recall either my girl or her family ever mentioning this mob. Maybe they don't frequent southern Leyte so much huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffeehound Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 The NPA are communist rebels. They historically confront government forces and offices I, and shake down business owners for protection money. Unlike the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that operates in Mindanao, the NPA is not as well known for kidnapping/killing Westerners. Stay out of local politics and you should have no problem. I have travelled to Leyte several times with no fear of the PLA. I avoid Western Mindanao because I know the MILF would kill me. Regards 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 NPA = New peoples Army..The locals often refer to them as.. Nice People Around.. They flourished during the Marcos regime and gave him hell in the provinces. Ive never heard about them threatening or kidnapping foreigners.. There may be exceptions..Not sure. I once lived in a NPA stronghold..Although I never heard a whisper from them,the NBI had the post office turn over any of my incoming mail for around 3 months as they thought I might be some kind of foreign organizer.. They couldn't understand what else I would be doing there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methersgate Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 (edited) The NPA are technically the armed struggle wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, headed by Jose Maria Sison from his hideout in the Netherlands. Their ideology is Maoist.They dislike foreigners, and they especially dislike foreigners associated in any way with business and investment.They strongly disapprove of commercial sex and the trafficking of Filipinas. Foreigners are not their main target unless those foreigners are seen to be associated with either of the above activities.Rest assured, the NPA have a long history of extreme violence against others and amongst themselves, in their numerous fratricidal "rectification" campaigns. They are often seen by local people as their best hope of justice, and the NPA take the role of dispensing "people's justice" seriously, as it is the key to their popular support. Edited August 14, 2014 by Methersgate 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 They dislike foreigners, and they especially dislike foreigners associated in any way with business and investment. They strongly disapprove of commercial sex and the trafficking of Filipinas. The ones I have known tend to approve of foreigners who marry (legal or defacto) filipinas and spread the wealth to the family. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methersgate Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 They dislike foreigners, and they especially dislike foreigners associated in any way with business and investment. They strongly disapprove of commercial sex and the trafficking of Filipinas. The ones I have known tend to approve of foreigners who marry (legal or defacto) filipinas and spread the wealth to the family. Up to a point, yes. Before answering in detail I'll just paste here what I wrote in the other thread: "My ex wife is from Bataan; when she was a teenager this province was a "hotbed" of NPA activity. She was an active supporter, hiding arms in her grandparents' house and on one occasion walking through a checkpoint with grenades hidden under a pile of washing. On another occasion she acted as lookout whilst the local cadres "interrogated" a young policewoman. These activities were not undertaken with her grandparents approval (she was raised by her grandparents - her grandfather, rather a fine man, was an Elder of the Iglesia ni Cristo) "Some ofthe Brits amongst us here will remember being aware of similar things going on in Northern Ireland a few years ago - the same sort of low level support amongst the populace, especially teenagers. "She used to "make arrangements" before I visited, letting "people" know that I was not a bad guy, but she was still criticized for consorting with a foreigner. Amusingly her local doctor was a strong NPA member and they knew each other in that connection. "The NPA has pretty much withdrawn from Bataan now - the activists moved to Mindanao, hence "New Bataan" which is an NPA "new town". When my ex wife's niece, who lives with my ex wife's mother in the house that I kindly built for my ex wife's family, was raped, a couple of years back, my ex wife's mother's first response was to try to contact the NPA for a revenge killing but she was not able to find anyone. "(Needless to say the Police case went nowhere; the InC were initally keen to help but one of the perpetrators (who were arrested and bailed) was the son of an InC member so that was the end of that.) " I am always cautious when dealing, as a foreigner, with any member of the Left in the Philippines; there has been a long association between nationalism and the Left, and the most surprising people may suddenly turn out to harbour quite a virulent dislike of foreigners, They may suppress this and then it may suddenly emerge, quite unexpectedly. A prominent journalist whom I had regarded as a good friend suddenly turned on me and accused me of being a "racist" just because I remarked, a propos of the Philippines education system and simply by way of an agreement with an article in Rappler (for which my ex friend is a columnist) written by the President of Filipino Freethinkers, which pointed out that the Philippines education system makes it hard for Filipinos to appreciate satire. My "racism" was apparently built into my genes as a foreigner, I was not even aware that I was a racist, but I was, because all foreigners are. For this reason, whilst I can talk Marxism-Leninism quite happily, and I have enjoyed my chats with NPA sympathisers, I have become more cautious than I once was.The Filipino "onion skin" can be bruised at any point. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 The NPA are technically the armed struggle wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, headed by Jose Maria Sison from his hideout in the Netherlands. Their ideology is Maoist. They dislike foreigners, and they especially dislike foreigners associated in any way with business and investment. They strongly disapprove of commercial sex and the trafficking of Filipinas. Foreigners are not their main target unless those foreigners are seen to be associated with either of the above activities. Rest assured, the NPA have a long history of extreme violence against others and amongst themselves, in their numerous fratricidal "rectification" campaigns. They are often seen by local people as their best hope of justice, and the NPA take the role of dispensing "people's justice" seriously, as it is the key to their popular support. Excellent background on their history. Prior to that, another group of anti government guerrillas were called the Huks. Mostly central and northern Luzon, many of the farmers and fishermen became Huks during the Marcos regime. NPA -- no permanent address do not usually bother the foreigners unless they were involved in disrespecting a Filipina. If you see a black ribbon tied to your door knob, it's an invitation to get out of dodge immediately. Also in Metro Manila there was a faction called the Red Sparrow and their target was dirty cops. One was tied to a busy corner, butt naked and slightly mutilated with a sign around his neck -- rapist. He was taken out of the gene pool...... Es mo pun to be respectful........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic Mike Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 NPA -- no permanent address do not usually bother the foreigners unless they were involved in disrespecting a Filipina. Sorry Jake, I have to disagree. My doctor friends were doing nothing but attending and setting up clinics in Samar, when they were stopped and robbed by the NPA. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 (edited) Sorry Jake, I have to disagree. My doctor friends were doing nothing but attending and setting up clinics in Samar, when they were stopped and robbed by the NPA. Yeah, that too......like I said they are opportunists as well, setting up fake checkpoints or using a fallen tree to block the road. Es mo pun........ Edited August 14, 2014 by Jake spil chek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methersgate Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 Possibly one of the NPA's less glorious moments was when they held up and robbed a relief convoy en route to Leyte after the typhoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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