12 municipalities and a city in Eastern Samar declared insurgency free

From the Philippine Information Agency (Feb 1): 12 municipalities and a city in Eastern Samar declared insurgency free

Twelve municipalities and one city in Eastern Samar have been declared insurgency free and Manageable Conflict-Affected and Ready for Development Areas (MCA-RDA) by the local governments and the military by year end 2012 and first month of CY 2013.

The municipality of Quinapondan, Eastern Samar was the latest municipality of Eastern Samar to be declared as MCA-RDA during a simple ceremony held at the Municipal Hall of Quinapondan, E. Samar on January 31.

According to Nedito A. Campo, Mayor of Quinapondan, “We cannot move forward without addressing peace and development. We can not develop our community without maintaining and preserving peace and order, and there could be no peace in our Municipality without putting development programs in our town.”

“I would like to congratulate the Philippine Army, the Philippine National Police for helping us, the people of Quinapondan for achieving a very peaceful community,” added Campo.

In his message, Lt. Col. Napoleon Z De Vera, commander of 14th Infantry (Avenger) Battalion said, “ We are not from this province but we have learned to love it. We saw and observed the potential of the province to be more developed and we must not hamper this development. We must unite all our efforts through the spirit of "Bayanihan" in further attaining peace and development of our province.”

For the year 2012, the municipalities of Taft, Maydolong, Balangkayan, Hernani, San Julian, San Policarpo, Sulat, and Borongan City were declared as MCA-RDA, while the municipalities of Salcedo, Guiuan and Mercedes were declared as insurgency-free areas. The municipality of Balangiga was the first municipality to be declared as MCA-RDA last January 8, 2013.

http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=1251359694222