Army eyes insurgency-free Panay by March 2020

By: Jennifer P. Rendon 

If things go as planned, the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Battalion aims to declare the whole of Panay Island as insurgency-free by March 2020.

Based on its timeline, the 3ID targets to clear Panay of insurgency affectation early next year.

Currently, Major General Dinoh Dolina, 3ID commander, said that there’s not much problem in Panay, except for the remaining rebel groups in parts of Iloilo and Capiz.

The clearing is being done from Tapaz in Capiz to Miag-ao in Iloilo.

“Sa Panay, tuloy-tuloy ang momentum. Iba-iba ang magiging tempo natin based on the challenges at hand,” Dolina said.

He said bigger challenge is up on Negros Island.

“In Panay, the problem is not as serious as Negros,” he said. “Mas malala sa Samar.”

But Dolina is confident that Negros Island would also be cleared soon after Panay.

On Oct 12, the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) convened for the ceremonial signing of the Peace, Law Enforcement and Development Support (PLEDS) Cluster Implementation Plan.

The RTF-ELCAC is tasked to ensure inter-agency convergence in the implementation of the Whole of Nation Approach framework in the conflict-affected and vulnerable areas.

It was gathered that PLEDS is just one of the 12 clusters of efforts which is to be replicated in the provincial, municipal and barangay levels.

It was done in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 70 or “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,” which was issued on Dec. 4, 2018.

Dolina, who is also the Joint Task Force Spear commander, believed that IMPLAN signing would boost the PLEDS Cluster efforts in achieving the government’s goal of ending insurgency.

Aside from Dolina, who represented the Philippine Army, other signatories were Police Brigadier Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police chief; Ana Burgos, regional director of the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), Atty. Manuel George Jularbal of the National Bureau of Investigation; Commodore Allan Victor dela Vega of the Philippine Coast Guard – Western Visayas; and Jaime Cabag of the Philippine Information Agency 6 (PIA-6).

“With the IMPLAN, we could not orchestrate our efforts, in coordination with the PNP, to hasten the clearing of the Negros area,” he said.

He also cited the support of the PNP, NBI, Coast Guard, NCIP, and PIA.

Meanwhile, Pamuspusan said they have aligned their efforts with other agencies for the sustained peace and development of Western Visayas.

“We are committed as a unit and as an organization to attain our objectives and purpose of eradicating insurgency,” he said.

Pamuspusan said they would increase emphasis on coordinating with other law enforcement agencies to address concerns relative to the insurgency problem.

Police have undergone trainings and seminar to boost these efforts.

“We will be more aggressive now. We know when we will come in terms of investigation, operations, and filing of cases,” he said.