BACOLOD CITY: Despite the dismantling of all New People's Army (NPA) guerilla fronts in Negros Island, the Philippine Army will not pull out its forces from the province, said Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Wednesday, February 14.
Lacson said the Regional Peace and Order Council, which he chairs, will meet on March 13 to discuss if Negros Occidental can already be declared under the state of Stable Internal Peace and Security (SIPS).
"Obviously, we recognize the gains and accomplishments of the Philippine Army. On the part of the local government units, it is our civic duty to stay in those gains, by providing assistance to previously conflicted areas," said Lacson.
Earlier, the Army's 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) recommended placing Negros Island under SIPS to concerned local chief executives after its conditions have been met with.
Negros Occidental is one of the two provinces that make up the Negros Island, which includes the highly urbanized Bacolod City.
Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, 3rd Infantry Division commander, said in a statement that the SIPS declaration "will attract new investments, generate more jobs, and provide opportunities to Negrenses."
Sison supervises the internal security operations of six Army battalions in Negros Island, the fourth largest and most populous island in the Philippines with a total land area of 13,309 square kilometers.
The 3ID declared that all the five existing NPA guerrilla fronts in Negros Island have been dismantled.
But the focused military operations against the NPA rebel remnants are still ongoing to prevent them from recovering their lost ground and recruiting new members, according to Lt. Col. J Jay Javines, 3ID Public Affairs Office chief.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines Visayas Command reported that all NPA-infested communities in the Visayas region "have already been cleared and its community engagement efforts are now geared towards preventing the resurgence of the CPP-NPA."
Lacson said "we cannot just rest on the availability of the Philippine Army to secure those areas, the LGUs really have to do their part."
Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, AFP Visayas Command chief, attributed much of what they have accomplished in the campaign against the CPP-NPA in the Visayas region to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac).
"The Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict does wonders in our efforts to end the local communist armed conflict in the Visayas region," said Arevalo.
"Much of what we have accomplished is attributed to the task force through its peace dialogue mechanism, community development initiatives, and local government empowerment endeavors," added Arevalo.
He also said that the completion of 562 community development projects under NTF-Elcac led to the permanent closure and complete resolution of the issues being exploited by the CPP-NPA to recruit and deceive the people to go against the government and resulted in the collapse of its political structures in rural and urban communities.
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