Negros will get more troops outside of Western Visayas, once the main effort of 3rd Infantry Division, is shifted to the island next year, its commanding general, Maj. Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero, said yesterday.
Guerrero, who was assigned in southern Negros as battalion commander more than a decade ago, said the main effort now of the 302nd Infantry Brigade is to run after the remnants of the South East Front, while the 303rd Infantry Brigade also started clearing and dismantling political structures of the New People’s Army in the remaining insurgency-affected areas.
The main effort of 3ID now focuses on some insurgency-affected areas of Iloilo and Capiz, which Guerrero expects to be completed before the year ends.
The provinces of Negros Oriental, Aklan, Antique have already been declared as “conflict manageable and development ready” by the Philippine Army, with the 3ID working out to have Iloilo, Capiz and Negros Occidental to follow before the end of term of President Benigno Aquino III in 2016.
With the declaration of Negros Oriental as a conflict manageable and development ready, and with improved peace and order in the island, Guerrero said they have shifted the coverage of 302nd Infantry Brigade, and will help the 303rd Infantry Brigade in Negros Occidental.
“We have to shift boundaries, with 47th Infantry Battalion added Himamaylan City to its areas, on top of the Cauayan, Hinobaan, Ilog, Candoni and Sipalay, where they are presently operating,” he added.
The 47IB has been placed under the operational control of 302nd Infantry Brigade, with the whole southern Negros now its “playground”, while the 11th Infantry Battalion was returned to the 303rd Infantry Brigade supervision, to help the 62nd Infantry Battalion in northern and central Negros, Guerrero also said.
The 20th Infantry Battalion was dispatched to Negros Oriental in recent months, to replace the 79th Infantry Battalion, with troops undergoing retraining at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.
“In the meantime, we have to make do with our available forces in Negros, in clearing the remaining insurgency-affected barangays, pending the approval of additional forces to be deployed next year,” Guerrero said.
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