Bongabon, Nueva Ecija – The relentless Focused Military Operations (FMO) and continuous conduct of AFP’s Community Support Program (CSP) in Central Luzon resulted in a series of encounters, recovery of various war materials and massive surrender of NPA terrorists and supporters.
For the month of November recovered war materials of the maneuver units consisting of the 91st Infantry Battalion, the 69th IB, 48th IB and 84th IB operating in central Luzon under the 703rd (Agila) Infantry Brigade of the 7th Division PA reached to 19 firearms comprising eight M16, one M14, one Carbine, three Cal 45, two Magnum 22, one Cal 22 sub-machine gun, one Cal 38 and two homemade pistol, two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), one hand grenade and five detonating cords.
Other materials such as ammunition, magazines, gadgets, bag packs, radios antennae, assorted medical supplies, rice containers, food stuffs, CPP-NPA-NDF flags and subversive documents were also recovered from the encounter site by the operating troops.
Military records for the month of November also revealed that three members of the New People’s Army were killed during encounters, five were captured and number of surrenderees were raised to more than 600 regular NPA members and supporters to include the recent surrender of some 133 NPA supporters under Malayang Aniban ng mga Magsasaka sa Manggang Marikit, Bagong Barrio at Yuson (MAMMBAYU) in Nueva Ecija.
The continuous trust and support of the Local Government Units (LGUs) and local populace are factors in advancing the Armed Forces campaign against insurgency and these shows that CPP-NPA are now losing their grounds in central Luzon.
“In just a short period of time, we were able to accomplish more than what we expected or targeted. I am truly overwhelmed with the conquest of our operating troops on the ground conducting focused military operations who are very eager to pursue our mandate to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) and we will engage, empower all sectors of society to be free and resistant to communist terrorist operations and infiltrations.” stated COL ANDREW D COSTELO INF (GSC) PA, the Commander of 703rd Infantry (AGILA) Brigade.
He also encouraged the local populace to continue supporting the government troops and help in their campaign against CNTs in order to establish peaceful communities. He also appealed to strengthen their capacities to resist violence and participate in peace building initiatives of the government to achieve community resiliency and cultural harmony.
Meanwhile, MAJOR GENERAL LENARD T. AGUSTIN AFP, Commander of 7ID, PA lauded the troops for a job well-done. “We will be persistent with our focused military operations to ensure the safety of our people. The 7th Infantry (KAUGNAY) Division, as your partners for Peace and Development, will remain dedicated in the performance of its duty and reinforce the realization of good governance, peace and sustainable development to significantly contribute to the total eradication of the Local Communist Armed Conflict by 2020.” he added.