PEACE AND ORDER SUMMIT. Antique Provincial Police Office Deputy Director, Lt. Col. Norby Escobar, urges barangay officials to support the campaign against terrorists during the Peace and Order Summit in San Jose de Buenavista on Friday (Sept. 13, 2019). He said that terrorists derail development projects in the barangays. (PNA photo by Annabel Consuelo J. Petinglay)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique -- The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) urged the 590 barangays in Antique to support the campaign against terrorism during the Peace and Order Summit at the Binirayan Gymnasium here on Friday.
Lt. Col. Joel Benedict G. Batara, commander of the Philippine Army 61st Infantry Battalion (61IB) under the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID), said the battle against insurgency could not only be addressed through military operation.
“As we know President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has already created a national task force to address causes of armed conflict with the communists,” he said.
The national task force was created through Executive Order Number 70, which President Duterte signed on December 4, 2018, ensuring a concerted effort of the different sectors to address the issues on insurgency.
“We know that the barangay chairmen of Antique are the front-liners in the communities and they know the issues why there is still insurgency, especially in the remote barangays,” he said.
He said that through a convergence of efforts, barangay officials will be a big help in influencing the insurgents to come down from their mountain lairs.
“Antique had been declared insurgent-free province in 2015 but we know that the New People’s Army (NPA) are trying to recover some areas now,” he said.
He added that NPA members are encroaching again in Antique as military operations are in Iloilo and Capiz boundaries.
Meanwhile, Antique Provincial Police Office Deputy Director, Lt. Col. Norby Escobar asked barangay officials not to lend support to the terrorists.
“The incident in Iloilo province is one example that the terrorists delay the infrastructure program and, thus, affect the development in the barangay,” he said.
Escobar was referring to the alleged burning of heavy equipment by NPA rebels in Barangay Igcocolo, Guimbal town midnight of September 11 for alleged refusal of the contractor to give in to their extortion activity.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1080424
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