The Philippine Army is now maximizing their efforts to prevent the New People’s Army from gaining footholds in 212 Negros Occidental barangays as part of the communist rebels expansion of their controlled areas.
Maj. Cenon Pancito III, spokesperson of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, said that the 3ID focuses its stepped up drive against communist NPA rebels in Negros Island, which has five existing guerilla fronts.
One NPA guerilla front has been assigned to be dismantled by a battalion-size unit of the Philippine Army, according to Pancito.
He also reported that there are 33 barangays in Negros Occidental liberated from the influence and control of the New People’s Army,
Negros Occidental has 662 barangays.
Each of 33 cleared barangays in Negros Occidental, according to Pancito, is expected to receive P20 million worth of projects as stipulated under the P16 billion “Barangay Development Program” of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
The P20 million will be used for the construction of various infrastructures, including a concrete farm-to market road, construction of classrooms, water and sanitation systems, health stations and for the national greening or forest protection program, he added.
Pancito also said that the funds will be released to municipalities where the identified barangays are located and the implementation will be supervised by the provincial governments, and the regional task forces under the NTF-ELCAC. *BB
