Army declares Davao Occidental ‘insurgency-free’

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 18, 2022): Army declares Davao Occidental ‘insurgency-free’ (By Che Palicte)

INSURGENCY-FREE. Senator Ronald dela Rosa (6th from left) along with the officials of the Eastern Mindanao Command, Philippine National Police, and the Davao Occidental provincial government, set free the white doves as a symbol of peace after the province was officially declared insurgency free on Thursday (Aug. 18, 2022). The declaration came following the dismantling of the New People's Army (NPA) Guerilla Front Tala that once operated in the province. (Photo courtesy of PTV-Davao)

The Army's 10th Infantry Division (ID) has formally declared the Davao Occidental province as “insurgency-free" during a ceremony held in Malita town on Thursday.

Major Gen. Nolasco Mempin, the Army's 10ID commander, said the declaration was the result of aggressive military and police operations, leading into the collapse of the New People’s Army (NPA) operating in the province.

In particular, Mempin lauded the anti-insurgency campaign of the Army's 1002nd Infantry Brigade, the Army's 73rd Infantry Battalion, and the Philippine National Police (PNP) field units in the province.

He said NPA Guerilla Front (GF) Tala, which was once active in the peripheries of the province, is considered "cleared," based on the parameters set forth by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the PNP.

Mempin said insurgency issues and concerns were resolved in identified conflict-affected areas and geographically- isolated and disadvantaged areas, resulting in the "demolition" of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) in the province.

Meanwhile, Mempin said they are also optimistic to declare the Davao Region insurgency-free on or before Sept. 30.

He said only one NPA unit remains active before Davao Region can be declared “insurgency-free”, the weakened NPA GF-18 operating in Davao Oriental province.

“The Eastern Mindanao Command gave us the timeline to declare the region as insurgency-free until September 30. We are trying our best that it will not reach that deadline for us to dismantle the remaining NPA unit,” Mempin said.

The military, however, said they have already cleared the barangays that were formerly influenced by the NPA GF-18, enabling it to be declared a “weakened unit.”

“Dismantling the weakened GF 18 in Davao Oriental is just a matter of time,’ Mempin said.

He noted that Davao Oriental served as a benchmark for the military’s clearing operations against the NPA in the region.

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

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1181644