A unit of the New People’s Army successfully stopped an illegal logging operation in the southern Philippine province of Sultan Kudarat on 1 June, when it stopped two operators working with the illegal logging operations of D.M. Consunji Incorporated. The NPA Red fighters explained to the operators the need to defend the indigenous peoples’ ancestral lands and to care for the environment.

The operators committed to stop their illegal operations and cooperation with the DMCI.

On 31 May, a separate unit of the NPA-Sultan Kudarat ambushed elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines 37th Infantry Battalion along the highway in Kalamansig town. Five soldiers were killed while seven others were wounded. The AFP soldiers in the province serve as guards to the destructive logging operations of the DMCI.

Earlier, on 14 May, the NPA ambushed elements of the AFP 57th Infantry Battalion aboard a military truck in Lebak town. Three soldiers were killed in action while four others were wounded.

The indigenous Lumad Dulangan-Manobo and Moro residents celebrated the successful stopping of the environmentally destructive logging operations and the victorious offensives against the AFP armed elements. They have long decried the threats, harassment and forced surrender campaigns committed by various AFP units against their communities.