• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Provincial Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Council (PJPSCC) has declared Negros Occidental in a state of stable internal peace and security (SIPS).
The joint recommendation was made by the Philippine Army, Philippine National Police (PNP) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) during a meeting held at Camp Alfredo Montelibano Sr. in Bacolod City on March 1.
Col. Victor Llapitan, deputy commander of the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (IB), said “we have achieved a very important milestone in our quest for attaining peace in Negros Occidental”.
He attributed the development to the collaborative efforts between the local government units (LGUs), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), PNP, PCG and other stakeholders for peace.
In the SIPS stage, the provinces are categorized as cleared, unaffected and relatively peaceful.
“The LGU and the PNP acknowledge and accept that only law enforcement operations (LEOs) are needed and will signify that the province is already normalized,” said Maj. Mervin Rosal, 303IB civil-military operations chief.
The PNP, in its lead role to LEOs, performs its normal police functions and conducts purely law enforcement activities while the AFP, in its support role to LEOs, primarily performs normal military functions.
The joint declaration will be forwarded to the Provincial Peace and Order Council and to the Regional Peace and Order Council-Western Visayas for concurrence.
However, declaring a state of SIPS does not mean being insurgency-free since there are still remnants of the New People’s Army, who will be the subject of relentless focused military operations, said Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, AFP Visayas Command chief, during his exit visit to the 303IB headquarters in Murcia, Negros Occidental on March 4.
Brig. Gen. Orlando Edralin, 303IB commander, earlier said that in Negros Occidental, there are only 33 remaining NPA combatants with 49 firearms in their possession, from a peak of 258 in 2019.
The five NPA guerrilla fronts in Negros Island were also declared as dismantled by the Philippine Army.
Arevalo said that infantry units stationed in Negros Island will remain although he is leaving the discretion for its realignment to the 3rd Infantry Division.
“I suggest that, considering we don’t want to be too confident, as we have learned in our history,” he added.
Arevalo said that military operations will now focus on preventing the resurgence of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA in communities already cleared of insurgency. | GB
