NPA threat in Bicol gone by 2016

From the Manila Bulletin (Jun 26): NPA threat in Bicol gone by 2016

Pili, Camarines Sur — The threat of insurgency remains a security concern in only two of six provinces in the Bicol region and a top army commander based here is optimistic that this problem will soon come to a “manageable level” by 2016.

Major General Yerson Depayso, Philippine Army 9th Infantry Division commander who is based in Camp Elias Angeles, here, said recently that Sorsogon and Masbate are the two remaining provinces in the region where the New People’s Army (NPA) remains a major internal security concern.

The government’s security sector, however, is doing all measures to clear these areas of the threat so that they are, at least by the end of 2016 declared, along with the other four Bicol provinces, as “conflict manageable and ready for further development (CMRFD) areas,” Depayso said.

Catanduanes, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Albay have been declared as CMRFD areas one after the other starting late last year up to early this year, following the forging of separate Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with the respective provincial governments and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

http://www.mb.com.ph/npa-threat-in-bicol-gone-by-2016/