A Negros Island Region Command that will integrate the operations of all the armed services on the island will be created soon, Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said yesterday.
The creation of the new command, to be headed by a general, is in line with President Benigno Aquino's recent creation of the NIR, composed of Negros Occidental and Oriental, Catapang said.
He announced the creation of the new command at rites held at the Negros Occidental Multi-Purpose Activity Center in Bacolod where Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. declared Negros Occidental a peaceful and ready for further development province.
The AFP will reconstitute its forces to operate throughout Negros Island under the new command, said Catapang, who will discuss the matter with Marañon.
Under the present set up, Negros Occidental is part of Army and police regional commands in Iloilo, and Negros Oriental of regional commands in Cebu.
One of the reasons cited for the creation of the NIR was to ensure better coordinated peace and order efforts.
Catapang said they are eyeing an area at the boundary of Negros Occidental and Oriental as site of the Negros Island Regional Command camp.
Marañon said the provincial government will provide the AFP with an area for its headquarters somewhere in the fifth district of Negros Occidental.
This will complement the NIR, the governor said.
Catapang said the NIR Command will be like an inter-agency peace and security organization that will harness all government agencies to maintain peace and security on the island.
It will include the Army, Air Force and Navy, in coordination with the Police, National Bureau of Investigation, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency working closely together, Catapang said.
ON SIQUIJOR
Meanwhile, Marañon said while he is happy that Siquijor has expressed interest in being part of the NIR, he does not believe it is possible anymore.
He said delegations from Negros Occidental and Oriental are to meet in Manila Monday with the Technical Working Group created by the president that is mapping out the details to make the NIR operational, he added.
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