By Jennifer P. Rendon
“Go where the enemies are.”
In the pursuit to beat the deadline set by President Rodrigo Duterte to end insurgency before he steps down, the hierarchy of the Philippine Army urged troops in Western and Central Visayas to establish forwarding bases in known lairs of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Philippine Army chief Lieutenant General Andres Centino made the challenge as he presided over the assumption of office of incoming 3rd Infantry Division commander Major General Benedict Arevalo on September 21 at the 3rd ID headquarters at Camp Peralta in Jamindan, Capiz.
“We need to intensify our efforts. We need to double our efforts. We need to go closer because we cannot win if we fight from afar. We have to go where the enemies are. We have to be relentless, and we should not let up in our operations,” Centino said.
Arevalo, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 1990, took over 3rd ID’s helm from his mistah, Brigadier General Noel Baluyan.
Baluyan temporarily took over the 3rd ID from Major General Eric Vinoya, who retired from the service on September 6.
Centino was also present during the activity.
“As I’ve said two weeks ago, when Gen. Vinoya retired, three things to comply. First, to end all threats within his term, and that is barely nine months from now,” he said.
“Second, there’s a deadline for the things that we should be doing and that is June 30, 2022. Dapat matapos natin ang homework na ibinigay ni Presidente. And third, no one else can do this but us,” Centino said.
The Philippine Army chief also echoed Arevalo’s pronouncement that the war against insurgency could not be won without the stakeholders.
“We need the cooperation and support of the stakeholders for us to win this campaign.
Focus on our tasks. We now have as partner agencies of the government. Sila ay katuwang na natin,” he said.
Centino then cited that the tasks ahead are achievable following the signing of Executive Order No. 70 and the creation of Task Force ELCAC.
Signed in Dec. 4, 2018, EO 70 is about “Institutionalizing the Whole-Of-Nation Approach in Attaining Inclusive and Sustainable Peace, Creating A National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, and Directing the Adoption of A National Peace Framework.”
Before EO 70, “we were doing things that other agencies were supposed to be doing. Right now, kasabay na natin sila, that’s why, ngayon we have all the time, we have all the focus, all the resources at our disposal para gamitin natin sa pag-address sa armado,” Centino said.
As he told soldiers to be mindful of the deadline set by the President in defeating insurgency by June 2022, the Army chief also stressed the need to increase intelligence efforts to improve operational efficiency and instill the culture of discipline among themselves.
“Take this into account in serving the people of Western and Central Visayas because these will give us the edge to win,” he said.
He also gave his assurance that the Philippine Army headquarters will provide the support that the Army units will need for them to be able to do their tasks.
A few months ago, the 3rd ID declared that at the rate that the campaign is being implemented, insurgency could be toppled before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
The division said the surrender of regular New People’s Army and their supporters and the continued clearing of insurgency-affected barangays are indications that the rebel movement has lost grip of their influence.
