The military is returning to areas in the hinterlands of Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, they had left 20 years ago, when they were believed to have been converted into a production base of the New People’s Army.
Col. Jon Aying, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said that denying this area from the NPA will have an impact on the logistical requirements of the “bandit group”.
Two members of the Army’s Bayanihan Team were killed recently in an encounter with about 30 NPA rebels in Sitio Madaha, Brgy. Buenavista, Himamaylan City, that is among the venues of the “Marching for Peace, Serving the Countryside” activity of the Provincial Peace Integration and Development Unit in the fifth district of Negros Occidental.
Aying said the two Bayanihan Team members had been dispatched to the barangay for community development activities. Instead, they were killed, he added.
Its shows that they are anti-people and anti-development, he also said, apparently referring to the NPA.
Despite the killing of the two Army soldiers and the injuries to another, Lt. Col. Ariel Reyes, 47th Infantry Battalion commander, said they will continue their community development activities in the insurgency-affected barangays of
“This will not prevent or deter us from helping local government units and agencies in the delivery of basic services to the people, especially those in the hinterlands who need help most,” Reyes said.
He added that the Bayanihan Teams of the 47IB will remain in the area, not only to protect the people from lawless elements, but primarily to help them uplift their lives, in tandem with the provincial government of Negros Occidental.
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2014/July/25/topstory10.htm
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