More soldiers deployed to Negros

A MILITARY truck carrying members of the 94th Infantry Battalion’s (IB) Bravo Company rolls off a Philippine Navy vessel in Bacolod. 

BACOLOD City – The Army’s 302nd and 303rd Infantry Brigades got additional troops with the arrival of an additional company under the 94th Infantry Battalion in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental on Jan 30, 2019.

A press statement from the 303rd IB based in Minuyan, Murcia town said that the Company of the 94th IB composed of 120 soldiers was previously placed under the 301st IB for 6 months and was responsible for internal security operations in Panay.

They also helped the Panay army forces in the series of successful armed clashes against the rebels, the press statement said.

Last Jan 28, 2018, the troops were sent off by the 301st IB from Fort San Pedro in Iloilo City in order to report to their mother unit, the 94th IB in Tanjay, Negros Oriental.

On the other hand, 100 newly privates who underwent training at the 3rd Infantry Division stationed in Jamindan, Capiz joined the Army forces in Negros and were deployed to different Army battalions in the island.

The newly assigned privates of the 62IB during the send-off at their battalion headquarters (303rd Infantry Brigade photos)

A total of 220 additional troops are now deployed in Negros in compliance with the Memorandum Order Number 32 signed on Nov 22, 2018.

The memorandum calls for the deployment of additional military and police personnel in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental provinces, to suppress lawless violence and acts of terror and prevent such violence from spreading and escalating from elsewhere in the country.

Colonel Benedict Arevalo, 303rd IB commander, welcomed the additional troops saying it will boost their campaign rebels in the island.

Relatedly, the 3rd Infantry Division is in the process of recruiting 200 more soldiers to further beef-up the army units in the Regions 6 and 7.