Northern, Central Luzon now ready for further development --NolCom

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 15): Northern, Central Luzon now ready for further development --NolCom

With the declaration of Pampanga as insurgent-free starting Wednesday, Northern and Central Luzon can now be declared peaceful and ready for further development.

This was declared by Armed Forces of the Philippines- Northern Luzon Command (NolCom) acting spokesperson Major Emmanuel Garcia during the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) among the provincial government and local government units (LGUs), police, military and other stakeholders at around 11 a.m. at the King's Hotel in Bacolor, Pampanga.

The MOA is a formal demonstration of the willingness of the LGUs and other government agencies to reinvigorate their performance towards peace and development of their respective communities.

Garcia said that this is also a way to accept and assert their lead role in the delivery of services designed to address the primary socioeconomic issues affecting their communities.

Pampanga is the last province out of the 22 provinces under the Northern Luzon Command's jurisdiction to be declared insurgent-free and peaceful.

This can be attributed to the constant weakening of the New People's Army (NPA) forces in the province and lost of influence of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=605270