Army official: No need for more troops

From the Sun Star-Davao (Apr 27): Army official: No need for more troops

THE Army's 10th Infantry Division (10th ID) will not be needing additional forces to address insurgency in their areas of responsibility, said 10th ID chief Major General Ariel Bernardo on Friday.

"We are not in need of additional troops from Luzon. We just need to strategize to eliminate the rebel insurgency. That's the job of a military commander. We just need to utilize the available forces on the ground. We also have the assistance of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and we also have troop multipliers like the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu)," Bernardo said during the Kapihan sa PIA at Abreeza on Friday.

"If we go by numbers, 10th ID is composed of around 5,000 to 6,000 troops. The strength of Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC) of the New People's Army (NPA) is around 763 with 15 Front Committees and seven Pulang Bagani Commands (PBCs) with 232 affected barangays," Bernardo said.

He added the NPA strength in the far southern region of Mindanao have three front committees with 184 personnel each.

The military commander also said they will maximize their deployment and visibility to crush all the bogus checkpoints being conducted by the NPA to abduct military and police personnel.

"At least 80 percent of our troops will be out to disrupt or deter the plans of the NPA. We already know how the rebels conduct their checkpoints unlike the military where you can spot a military vehicle," Bernardo said.

He added the forces of 10th ID remain mobile to cover larger areas and penetrate NPA-affected barangays.

"It is obvious that our troops are mobile judging by the many encounters that we had with the NPA. We won't be having any encounters if our men are just on standby. At times, we lose some men but most of the time we have many accomplishments in the ground," Bernardo added.

Bernardo said their focus as of now is maintaining the peace and order for the proper conduct of the midterm automated elections in May 13.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2013/04/27/army-official-no-need-more-troops-279735