By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Philippine Army 302nd and 303rd Infantry Brigades (302 IB and 303 IB) received additional troops last Wednesday with the arrival of a 94th Infantry Battalion company at the Dumaguete City seaport in Negros Oriental.

A total of 220 additional troops were deployed to Negros.

“I welcome all the additional troops deployed [to] Negros,” said 303 IB commander, Colonel Benedict Arevalo.

He went on to call them a “boost in our campaign against the terrorist New People’s Army (NPA).”

“As a stronger army force [on] the island, I order you to aggressively run after the NPA and prevent them from conducting atrocities and extortion, especially that [the] election period is fast approaching,” he added. “Our numbers [are] enough to pursue the NPA and, with the support of other communities, local government units, and agencies, the numbers will continue to grow until these terrorists have [nowhere else] to run.”

Meanwhile, the Philippine Army 3rd Infantry Division is in the process of recruiting 200 more soldiers to further increase army units in Regions 6 and 7./DGB, WDJ