Davao de Oro now insurgency-free: guv

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 21, 2022): Davao de Oro now insurgency-free: guv (By Che Palicte)

INSURGENCY-FREE. Davao de Oro Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy announces Tuesday (June 21, 2022) that his province is now insurgency-free. He says the feat is the culmination of their long efforts to free the province from communist armed rebellion. (PNA photo by Che Palicte)

Davao de Oro Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy announced during his end-of-term State of the Region on Tuesday here that his province is now insurgency-free.

“Just last week, I was notified by the Philippine Army that the last remaining members of the Guerrilla Front (GF) 2, the oldest New People's Army (NPA) guerrilla unit in Mindanao, had already left Davao de Oro,” Uy, the outgoing Regional Development Council chairperson, said.

In fact, Uy said the Provincial Peace and Order Council passed a resolution on Monday (June 20) officially declaring Davao de Oro an insurgency-free province.

He said the dismantling of armed rebel units in the province was the culmination of their long efforts to free the province from insurgency.

“We are happy that in Davao de Oro, no NPA front is present,” Uy said, crediting the achievement largely to the government's “whole-of-nation-approach” in eliminating local armed conflicts.

President Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order (EO) No. 70 in December 2018, creating the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

“NTF-ELCAC is indeed effective. Conflict-affected barangays are among its priorities for development,” Uy said.

Meanwhile, Major Gen. Nolasco Mempin, commander of the Army's 10th Infantry Division, said in a press briefing Tuesday afternoon that apart from Davao de Oro, Davao City, Davao del Sur, and Davao Occidental have already been declared insurgency free.

“Hopefully in Davao Oriental, we can achieve it, and we still have one week so that we can declare the entire Davao Region as insurgency-free,” Mempin said.

The Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the National Democratic Front as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1177223