• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
All the five New People’s Army (NPA) guerilla fronts in Negros Island have been declared dismantled by the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (ID) as of December 2023.
Lt. Col. J-Jay Javines, public affairs chief of 3ID, said yesterday that the “weakened” South West Front of the Komiteng Rehiyonal Negros/Cebu/Bohol/ Siquijor (KR-NCBS) has been added to the list last month.
The four other dismantled guerilla fronts included the South East Front, Northern Negros Front, Central Negros 1, and Central Negros 2, which have already been concurred through a resolution issued by the Joint Peace Security and Coordinating Committee (JPSCC) composed of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Javines said they are also waiting for the concurrence of the AFP Visayas Command and the JPSCC to formalize the declaration of South West Front as a dismantled guerilla front.
“The challenge for us is how to prevent rebel remnants from recovering their lost territories and recruiting new members. Focused military operations are ongoing against the remaining 10 members of the regional strike force of KR-NCBS,” he added.
The 3ID, under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, is targeting to declare Negros Island as “insurgency-free” within the first quarter of this year.
The AFP has recognized Sison, along with Brig. Gen. Orlando Edralin, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, and Lt. Col. Van Donald Almonte, 94th Infantry Battalion commander, for the dismantling of Central Negros 2 guerilla unit.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has lauded the AFP, PNP and the Philippine National Police, and the Department of National Defense for dismantling the remaining active guerilla fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines’ armed wing, NPA.
A guerilla front in a certain area is considered as dismantled once its armed component has been reduced to 8 to 10 members, there is absence of mass-based organizations and it no longer has influenced areas, and there is implementation of government projects and establishment of government territorial forces in its area.
Declaring a guerilla front as dismantled does not necessarily mean that the Philippine Army will cease their operations against the NPA remnants, Javines said.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, who chairs the Regional Peace and Order Council-Western Visayas, said he still expects rebel remnants to show that they are still active and to give an impression that they are still a force to reckon with.
Military records indicated that almost all top leaders of KR-NCBS have been neutralized, following their deaths in series of encounters in recent years in Negros Occidental. | GB
