The Philippine Army’s anti-insurgency campaign on Negros Island is 95 percent complete.
Major General Marion Sison, 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) commanding officer, said most of the guerrilla fronts of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Negros have been dismantled by the military.
Sison said there are five NPA remnants that are still being monitored by the authorities.
He admitted that it is more difficult to monitor the remaining remnants because they are no longer working as a group.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Army has assured that the military will not leave Negros Island, as they have shifted their focus to territorial defense from internal security.
“As we learned our lesson, we will not leave [the Negros Island Region]. The Philippine Army will stay, and we will sustain whatever gains we have made,” Sison said.
“As long as there are remnants of the NPA, let us not relax, and let us sustain our gains,” he added.
Sison said the military should not be confident, despite the fact that only a small percentage of the NPA remains in Negros.
“We will finish them. We will eradicate them in order for Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental to really have that peace, progress and development,” he stressed.
Sison said there will be no re-alignment in their operations against the insurgency.
Earlier, the 3ID recommended the declaration of Stable Internal Peace and Security (SIPS) status in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
Brigadier General Orlando Edralin, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said the two Negros provinces have already met the necessary criteria for SIPS status, which includes the dismantling of all guerrilla fronts on the island, and the establishment of the Integrated Territorial Defense System.
Under the SIPS status, the province is considered relatively peaceful and cleared from communist insurgents, which reflects the ongoing progress in the government’s campaign against the insurgency in Negros.
In May, the Philippine Army declared that five NPA guerrilla fronts in northern, central and southern Negros had been dismantled.
These are Central Negros 1, Central Negros 2, South East Front, Northern Negros Front, and South West Front./WDJ