by Miriam G. Desacada
Catarnan N.Samar- The entire region (Eastern Visayas) is now declared NPA Guerilla front free and Barangay free from NPA influence, according to Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division commander, Major General Camilo Z. Ligayo, during the visit of DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr in Northern Samar on Monday (May 6).
Ligayo’s announcement came as he informed that there is no more active NPA guerilla fronts operating in the island of Samar after the remaining nine guerilla fronts, three of these based in Northern Samar, were dismantled.
Ligayo added that all of the region’s barangays, numbering 4,365, are now deemed free from NPA influence. “Kampante tayo sa ating timeline that we will achieve victory soon in our anti-insurgency campaign,” he said.
The Joint Regional Task Force 8-End Local Communist Armed Conflict (JRTF8-ELCAC), headed by Ligayo, targeted to end insurgency in the region by the end of this year.
Abalos was in Northern Samar where he presided over the JRTF8-ELCAC Peace and Development Dialogue here and discussed the peace and security status of the region viz a viz the insurgency problem.
Other matters discussed in the meeting were the collaborative efforts of the members of the JRTF8-ELCAC’s Peace, Law Enforcement, and Development Support Custer, and the successful civilian-led dismantling of the remaining guerilla fronts.
Brigadier Gen. Efren Morados, commander of the 803rd Infantry Brigade, clarified during the meeting that Region 8 however could not be declared yet as an insurgency-free region because there still remain five NPA vertical units, which he said are remnants of different front committee units in Eastern Visayas.
Earlier, only Allen out of 24 towns in Northern Samar was officially declared as an insurgency-free town by the Municipal Task Force-ELCAC (MTF-ELCAC), he said.
“There is one criterion that would qualify Northern Samar to be declared as insurgency-free province. “There should be no report, no sightings, and no movements of NPA groups in the area,” Morados said.
Abalos for his part, after getting the reports and overall picture of the region in terms of insurgency, lauded JRTF8-ELCAC’s implementation of the government’s whole-of-nation approach in the anti-insurgency drive.
He said that success in the fight against insurgency “could not be achieved without collaboration from other government agencies, local government units, and the barangays, on top of the financial aid and livelihood assistance for the former rebels, as well as the construction of infrastructure and road networks at NPA-influenced areas.”
Hundreds of barangay officials, who attended the meeting also, asked Abalos to implement the promised barangay development programs, which had been known to have multi-million fund allocation from the national government.
Governor Edwin Ongchuan of Northern Samar, said that besides the regular programs of the task forces-ELCAC, former rebels had been hired as farm workers by the provincial government to help increase the production of rice, corn, and other high-value crops.
At least 50 former rebels with their families are staying at Kauswagan Village, a government-initiated housing and livelihood community for them at Barangay Cablangan in Mondragon town, said the governor.
He said Northern Samar’s anti-insurgency campaign remains a top priority of the provincial government considering that it had been tagged as insurgency’s last remaining stronghold. “We are the last bastion of insurgency, and ending insurgency is a big challenge, especially in the boundaries of three Samar provinces,” he said.
During the meeting, Ongchuan asked the national government to build a circumferential road in the tri-boundaries of Samar to ensure the sustainability of anti-insurgency efforts.
The proposed road project will connect the towns of Silvino Lubos and Las Navas in Northern Samar, the town of Matuguinao in (western) Samar, and the town of Jipapad in Eastern Samar, Ongchuan added. —Miriam G. Desacada