The 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB) of the Philippine Army is keeping a close watch on at least four towns in Negros Oriental that are still affected by the insurgency with relentless operations underway, a military official said yesterday.

Lt. Colonel Van Donald Almonte, 94IB commanding officer, told the Philippine News Agency that the four municipalities are Tayasan, Ayungon, Bindoy, and Manjuyod.

“Bindoy and Manjuyod have the strongest supporters of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), that is why we have to sustain our operations there without let-up,” he said.

Almonte said some of their activities include visiting former rebels and former supporters to ensure that they will not be influenced and recruited back into the underground movement.

The Army commander also noted that one of the three rebels who died in the February 4 and 5 encounters with NPAs in Negros Occidental’s Kabankalan City was from Tayasan town’s Barangay Tanglad.

The barangay is known to have some residents still active in the NPA, he noted.

He said this is an indication that there are still members of the NPA’s guerrilla front operating in central Negros that come from the Oriental side of the island.

Three barangays in Ayungon, one in Bindoy, and one in Manjuyod are listed as priority areas under the Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict under the government’s whole-of-nation approach.

Meanwhile, Almonte said NPA forces in his area of jurisdiction are “dwindling,” meaning, “their strength is negligible and their firepower has suffered successive setbacks” following encounters with government troops since last year.

Some barangays have also been cleared through their Community Support Program, although he did not mention these villages.

Almonte called on the remaining NPA members to surrender and avail the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program for former rebels to reintegrate them into mainstream society. (PNA)