PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Military troops are determined to lessen if not put an end to the atrocities of the New People’s Army (NPA) in southern Palawan by strengthening the information sharing protocol they have established with local government units (LGUs).
Lt. Col. Danilo Facundo, commanding officer of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 4 (MBLT4) and head of the Joint Task Group South (JTGS), on Monday morning said this resolve was triggered by the recovery of a new set of NPA materiel and a “serviceable” shotgun at Sitio Gara, Barangay Amas, Brooke’s Point.
The recovery of the items from the NPA’s Bienvenido Vallever Command was based on information from concerned residents of Amas.
It was the result of an enhanced information sharing protocol (ISP) established with the local government of Brooke’s Point as a result of a series of Municipal Peace and Order Council meetings, security forums, and the commitment vowed by its leaders and constituents.
“The information sharing protocol we stressed to the LGUs is now working. In fact, before the end of the year, we already saw an increase in the number of reports we’ve received through text messaging and calls, especially in Brooke’s Point,” said Facundo.
Towards the end of the year, the JTGS composed of the MBLT4 and the 18th Special Forces Company of the Philippine Army, worked to appeal to municipal officials of Brooke’s Point headed by Mayor Mary Jean Feliciano to give support to their focused military operation against the NPA.
Facundo said that was because Brooke’s Point appears to be the “comfort zone” of the armed members of the NPA that was recently tagged as a terrorist group by President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Nag-improve dyan ‘yong sharing ng information ng mga residente, barangay officials, lahat. Nag-appeal ako sa kanila, at ‘yong commitment nila was given, pati ng mga indigenous peoples mandatory representative. Dumami ang mga pinapaabot sa amin kaya may mga na-re-recover kami (What improved was the sharing of information with residents, barangay officials, everyone. I made an appeal to them, and they gave their commitment, even the indigenous peoples mandatory representatives. Many reports were communicated with us and they are the reason why we continuously recover their paraphernalia),” he added.
This year, more follow up activities on strengthening the ISP with residents and municipal officials of Brooke’s Point and other towns in southern Palawan will be done to ensure the breakdown of mass-based support for the NPA, particularly in the town of Brooke’s Point.
Since last April, the JTGS has recovered a total of 35 firearms from the NPA; seized control of two major camps – a drill and a bomb-making camp – and two satellite camps in various barangays in Brooke’s Point and Bataraza towns; and conducted four security forums in the provincial and municipal levels. (PNA)
