• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (ID) is targeting to recommend the declaration of Negros Island as insurgency-free by the first quarter of next year, with the hope of dismantling the remaining one guerilla front in southern Negros by year’s end.
Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, commander of 3ID, on Tuesday thanked the members of the Regional Peace and Order Council-Western Visayas (Region 6) for their support to the 3ID effort to end the local communist armed conflict in the region.
Of the five NPA guerilla fronts in Negros, the 3ID declared to have dismantled the South East and Northern Negros Fronts as well as the Central Negros 1 and 2.
It categorized the South West Front as a “weakened” guerilla front.
Military records indicated that almost all top leaders of Komiteng
Rehiyonal-Negros/Cebu/Bohol/Siquijor have already been neutralized, among them were its secretary Rogelio Posadas, and Romeo Nanta, alias “Ka Juaning”, regional commander of the NPA Apolinario Gatmaitan Command in Negros Island, and seven others who were killed in gunbattles since January this year.
Records of the 3ID showed that a total of 102 NPA members have been either killed in encounters, captured or surrendered, with 142 firearms recovered in the same period.
The 3ID supervises the internal security operations in Region 6 and Region 7 (Central Visayas).
In a statement, Sison said that the call of the National Democratic Front to release their jailed leaders and suspension of local peace engagement were part of its propaganda with the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA.
“We will continue our focused military operations and support for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, extending from the regional to the provincial, municipal, and barangay levels, along with our commitment to the local peace engagement,” he added. | GB
