Panay island gets 15 add'l CAFGU detachments

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 13): Panay island gets 15 add'l CAFGU detachments

The Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) will have an additional 15 detachments on Panay Island, according to the Philippine Army’s 301st Infantry Brigade (301st IB) based in Camp Hernandez, Dingle, Iloilo.

Colonel Benedict Arevalo, Commander of the 301st IB, said the additional detachments would beef up the security and sustain the gains on the entire Panay island.

“We should not be complacent because our enemies have also the strength to become stronger especially that we have concentrated some of our forces outside Panay,” he said in an interview Monday.

Also, the additional detachments are in preparation for the 2019 mid-term elections.

“We want to put pressure on the armed groups so that they could not make any violent incident for the coming periods,” he said.

Arevalo further said the CAFGU detachments will be spread in the different priority areas around the island in addition to the 42 existing detachments.

He noted some of these will be located in the towns of Calinog, Maasin, Lambunao and Miag-ao in Iloilo province and towns of Tapaz and Dumarao in Capiz; while others will be in Aklan province.

Arevalo said they have already started recruiting about 500 CAFGU personnel to man these detachments.

The recruitment is being done at the 12th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Aklan.

Arevalo said most of the recruits are residents of localities in Panay.

Due to security reasons, Arevalo did not disclose how many CAFGU personnel will be deployed in each detachment, but he said it will be a “sizable number”.

“We will just finish the numbers and we will establish the detachments,” he said.

Arevalo hoped that all the 15 CAFGU detachments will be established before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, an estimated 200 members of the New People’s Army (NPA) are still active on Panay Island as of the moment, Arevalo said.

He reiterated his call among the public especially the youth that they should avoid believing in the promises of the rebels.

“It is always good to follow our laws. Joining the rebel groups will just harm you, not all that they say are true,” he further said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1044679