• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, outgoing chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Visayas Command (Viscom), on Thursday (March 21) ended his 38 years of service to the military.
He rallied troops not be complacent in the remarkable gains they achieved against the New People’s Army (NPA) in the Visayas region.
Regardless the number of rebel remnants, soldiers must always find ways, and do what is still needed to do, Arevalo said.
During his retirement honors at Camp Lapu-Lapu in Cebu City, Arevalo was conferred the Distinguished Service Star medal by AFP chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr.
Under his stint as Viscom chief for more than a year, there were about 200 encounters initiated by government forces in the Visayas, which led to the neutralization of 657 rebels, among them five top NPA officials in the region.
Of the neutralized rebels, 103 died in gunbattles while the government suffered only four casualties, records showed.
In the same period, six guerrilla fronts had been dismantled, five of which are in Negros Island, which led to the declaration of the island in a state of stable internal peace and security.
“Our campaign focused on a shared vision of peace, development and transformation, which were driven by the support and strength of the relationships we have developed with our peace-loving communities,” Arevalo said.
He added that the AFP concentrated their efforts on destroying the leadership structure of the local communist armed groups, “weakening their manpower, dismantling their networks, exposing their treacherous nature, and providing opportunities for them to be back into the fold of law”.
“While majority of the guerrilla fronts have already been dismantled, there is much to be done yet,” he said, stressing the need for the troops not to be complacent.
Brawner hailed Arevalo for his notable accomplishments that fueled Viscom to still soar high amid challenges.
Commodore Oscar Canlas succeeded Arevalo as acting Viscom chief, pending the appointment of his permanent successor by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Brawner told Canlas to just carry on all the mandates for Viscom and to be steadfast in performing the immense responsibilities that envelope his present interim position.
As acting VISCOM chief, Canlas will supervise all the AFP units stationed in Visayas. | GB
