Bacolod City – The Army’s 3rd Infantry Division just declared that the New People’s Army, both in Negros and Panay, are “dying and having their ‘huling hikbi (last sob)’.”
However, they are determined to hold on, so you better prepare and thwart their desperate moves, Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, 3ID commander told members of the Joint PNP-Army Intelligence Committee for Regions 6 and 7, during the culmination of their workshop held at Camp Macario Peralta in Jamindan, Capiz recently.
Despite big setbacks inflicted to remnants of the NPA in both islands, Sison reminded them not to be complacent, as he also ordered them to be prepared to prevent any NPA perpetrated atrocities, especially on their Communist Party of the Philippines founding anniversary on December 26.
“There shall be no let-up in our combat operations until we are able to dismantle all the remaining guerrilla fronts and eventually declare the islands of Negros and Panay as insurgency free,” he added.
The workshop is a tedious process and a mechanism aimed to evaluate, analyze, and validate the true identities of reported personalities, leadership, structures, and capabilities of the NPA in the operational jurisdiction of 3ID, which includes Negros, Panay and Bohol, according to Lt. Col. J Jay Javines, who is the 3ID Civil Military Operations officer.
With two months remaining of the fourth quarter of the year, the 3ID logged 11 encounters with the NPA, resulting in the deaths of four NPA remnants, the surrender of nine other active rebel combatants, and 58 militiamen and supporters.
The two major engagements with the NPA took place in EB Magalona, Himamaylan City, and Binalbagan, where the majority of the firearms were recovered by Army soldiers.
Sison emphasized that troops on the ground cannot effectively execute their strategies if they don’t have something to start with, which is superb intelligence. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)
