Top officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
in Southern Luzon Command (SolCom) and Philippine National Police (PNP) in
Bicol Region met with incumbent leaders as well as some aspiring candidates in
Masbate for a peace dialogue held at the PNP-Masbate Provincial Headquarters in
Masbate City on Tuesday (Feb. 16) and discussed the peace and security concerns
on the May 2016 Elections.
Lieutenant Colonel Angelo S. Guzman, chief,
Public Information Office and SolCom Spokesperson reported that the dialogue
was attended by SoLCom Chief Lieutenant General Ricardo R. Visaya, 9th Infantry
Division Commander Major General Ferdinand F. Quidilla, 903rd Infantry Brigade
Commander Colonel Fernando Trinidad, Task Force Masbate Commander Colonel
Samuel Felipe and Masbate-based 9th Infantry Battalion Commander Lieutenant
Colonel Patrick Cinco composed the AFP contingent with PNP Region-5 Director
Police Chief Superintendent Augusto M. Marquez Jr., Masbate Governor Vicente
Homer Revil, two representatives, mayors in different municipalities and other
aspiring candidates.
Accordingly, the dialogue aimed to address current peace and
security issues among candidates as well as to get the commitment of the local
chief executives and candidates for a peaceful and orderly elections in May.
Guzman, in his report, said that about 2,050 policemen and
soldiers will be engaged in election duties in Masbate
including those in current duties.
According to PCSUPT Marquez, 350 police contingent will
augment the current 1,000 police force of Masbate Provincial Police Office
(PPO) and one Special Action Force (SAF) Company around 100 police commandos
from Cordillera will also augment Masbate PPO.
Meanwhile, LtGen Visaya said a Division Reconnaissance
Company from the 9th Infantry Division around 100 soldiers will be deployed
soon to augment the 500 strong 9th Infantry Battalion based in the island
province.
Visaya said the augmentation is needed to achieve a peaceful
and orderly elections in May 2016 based on the New People’s Army (NPA) and
Private Armed Group (PAG) threats as well as the political situation in the
province.
LtGen Visaya said the AFP and PNP in Masbate are monitoring
five identified Private Armed Groups (PAGs) that once verified, the soldiers
are ordered to immediately arrest and neutralize them.
"We appeal to the candidates not to use PAGs,"
said LtGen Visaya.
Moreover, the report said that the NPAs also remain as
potent threat and minimizing their extortion activities in forms of
permit-to-campaign (PTC) and permit-to-win (PTW), is one of the top concerns of
the AFP and PNP.
Masbate Governor Revil recognized the presence of the NPAs
in the province as the reason placing the province in the Election Watchlist
and expressed hope that the province will be removed from the list in the
future.
"While it might be true that Masbate is in the
watchlist because of alleged PAGs and strong political rivalries, it is more
because of the presence of the NPAs which is not doing any good for Masbate ," he said.
Moreover, the SoLCom chief said that he was satisfied with
the outcome of the peace dialogue.
"I am happy that despite their differences in political
affiliations, they are one with the AFP and PNP in our common goal for a
peaceful Masbate Province
Likewise, he said that the discussions gave him a better
insight on the peace and security perspectives of the incumbent leaders and
aspirant candidates.
"Surely, there will be adjustments in our deployment
and how we will conduct our operations and election duties based on the
discussions and suggestions," he said.
He further appealed that the AFP and PNP cannot achieve
peace by themselves alone, but a need the strong commitment and full cooperation
of every citizen in Masbate .
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=857902
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