|
Lt.
Col. Nedy Espulgar, Vice Mayor Winston Menzon, Mayor Charita
Chan, Col. Arnulfo Matanguihan, PSupt. Denis Jose Llavore and
PSI Delfin Dinky Boy Bardillon during the signing of the
declaration of Babatngon, Leyte as insurgency-free municipality
on April 201, 2015. The signing was held at the SB Session Hall
of Babatngon, Leyte before the SB members, PNP and AFP personnel
as well as town hall employees. |
Insurgency-free
towns in Leyte rise at 11
By 19th Infantry Battalion,
8ID PA
April 23, 2015
ORMOC CITY – Figure
of Leyte towns which were considered “cleared” from insurgency
affectation has significantly increased, the military said.
This when Local Chief
Executives and Colonel Arnulfo Matanguihan, deputy commander of the
802nd Infantry Brigade inks Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) declaring
Julita and Babatngon as insurgency-free municipalities on Monday,
April 20.
The said official and Police
Superintendent Denis Jose Llavore who represented the Director of the
Leyte Police Provincial Office, signed both MOAs amidst simple
occasions separately prepared by the concerned LGUs.
Colonel Matanguihan cited
that better services and the participation of all stakeholders in
addressing social issues are the key factors of the Local Government
Units (LGUs) success in preventing entry and resurgence of the
communist terrorist movement and other lawless groups.
In the military’s
assessment, Babatngon and Julita towns which are under the area of
operations of the 19th Infantry Battalion and 78th Infantry Battalion,
respectively, were already “cleared” since year 2000 or even earlier
as some LGUs claimed it.
The proximity of Babatngon
to Sta. Rita, Samar which is just a thirty-minute ride via motorized
boats, stereotyped the town as among the lawless groups’ mobility
corridors.
But in her message during
the MOA signing, Mayor Charita Chan recounted how the peace and order
situation of her town were ably maintained by municipal police and the
barangay tanods. The three-termer mayor likewise described the
dwellers as peace-loving constituents.
Similar to Babatngon, the
municipality of Julita also accomplished the imperatives contained in
the AFP-PNP Joint Letter Directive entitled: “Guidelines in Evaluating
the Implementation of Internal Security Operations (ISO) Campaign Plan
against the Communist Terrorist Movement”.
Lt. Col. Nedy Espulgar and
Lt. Col. Allan Jose Taguba, commanding officers of 19IB and 78IB
respectively, said they are eyeing the declaration of other towns and
even cities as insurgency-free the soonest possible time.
As of this posting, 11 towns
in Leyte are already formally declared insurgency-free. The said towns
are Matag-ob, Merida, Palompon, Matalom, Bato, Inopacan, Dulag,
Tabon-tabon, Tabango, Julita and Babatngon.
