- GILBERT BAYORAN
The Apolinario Gatmaitan Command of the New People’s Army (AGC-NPA) has dismissed the imminent declaration of state of “stable internal peace and security” (SIPS) in Negros Island as a “sham”.
In a statement, rebel spokesperson Maoche Legislador also debunked the statement of the Philippine Army that it has dismantled all guerrilla fronts in the two Negros provinces.
He claimed that all five guerrilla fronts under the AGC-NPA “continue to perform as the Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) primary weapon in waging the protracted people’s war through extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare.”
Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, 3rd Infantry Division commander, earlier said that the state of SIPS in Negros Island may now be formally declared by the concerned local chief executives after its conditions have been met, including the dismantling of all guerrilla fronts.
Sison, who supervises the internal security operations of six battalions in Negros Island, said the SIPS declaration in a locality will attract new investments, generate more jobs, and provide more opportunities to Negrenses.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, chairman the Regional Peace and Order Council-Western Visayas, said that the RPOC will discuss the SIPS declaration in Negros Island during their meeting on March 13.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines Visayas Command has reported that all NPA-infested communities in the Visayas region have already been cleared and its community engagement efforts is now geared towards preventing the resurgence of the CPP-NPA. | GB
