Anti-insurgency
drive in Eastern Visayas has gained headway
during the first seven months of the year, the Philippine Army said, rebuffing
the New People’s Army (NPA) claims.
Capt.
Amado Gutierrez, spokesperson of the 8th Infantry Division, rejected the NPA
statement that the government Internal Peace and Security Plan was a failure,
as several soldiers were killed and wounded during the first seven months of
the year.
Gutierrez
said that it’s the communist rebels who are weakening as 15 of their members
were arrested from January to July 2013, including high ranking officials. At
least 77 NPA camps were discovered by soldiers.
Government
troops have recovered 40 firearms during encounters and camp seizures. Seven
insurgents have been neutralized during encounters while 101 rebels went back
to the fold of law during the first seven months.
The
8th ID has no figures on number of NPA members killed and hurt in clashes but
he said they are sure that insurgents have suffered casualties during
encounters because of traces of blood after firefights.
In
a statement posted in its website, the NPA’s Rodante Urtal Command based in Northern Samar claimed that 17 soldiers were killed and
11 other were hurt in several clashes from January to June 2013.
“These
figures are misleading. I don’t know how they came up with those numbers,”
Gutierrez said.
The
official stressed that the military is on track of minimizing the NPA threat in
Eastern Visayas especially in three Samar
provinces.
In
a press statement, the army said that the most significant of their performance
this year was the joint declaration of Eastern Samar as “Manageable
Conflict-Affected and Development-Ready Area (MCADRA)” in a ceremony held last
March 26, 2013 at the Capitol Building in Borongan City, Eastern Samar.
“That
makes the province ready for economic investment and sustainable development as
experienced in Cebu, Bohol, Biliran, Leyte and Southern Leyte where businesses
started to thrive and attract investments when they were declared as
MCADRA."
The
army is eyeing to make Samar and Northern Samar
insurgent-free by 2016.
The
military lauded the stakeholder’s acceptance to the achievement of in the
implementation of Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP) “Bayanihan.”
“Through
this, we have become effective agents of peace in the region showcasing
adherence to and observance of human rights, rule of law and International
Humanitarian Laws,” the statement said.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=551894
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