ZAMBOANGA CITY — The head of the Joint Task Forces and component units of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) have been ordered to “remain focused” as the campaign against terrorist elements in its area of operation continues.
This was the directive of Lt. Gen. Arnel dela Vega, Westmincom chief, to the unit commanders during the command conference on Tuesday in Camp Navarro, this city, according to Col. Gerry Besana, Westmincom information officer.
“We should remain focused on the task at hand. We should act promptly and decisively for any action that we intend to do and sustain the momentum,” Besana said Thursday, quoting dela Vega’s directive.
Westmincom’s areas of operation are in the Western and Central Mindanao regions.
“We have the momentum as far as our campaign is concerned. It only goes to show that we are focused on our mandate, in as far as our focused military operation is concerned, and that would not have been possible if you did not heed my calling that all our focused military operations will be intelligence operations-based,” dela Vega added.
Besana said dela Vega told the joint task forces to enhance “information operations efforts” to maximize their accomplishments.
“The respective services headquarters and brigades, in particular, have been very generous in extending to us all the funds and the logistics support. So I would enjoin everyone to be prudent and judicious in the utilization of our resources,” dela Vega was quoted to have told the unit commanders.
Those who attended the command conference included Maj. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Joint Task Force (JTF) Central commander; Rear Adm. Rene Medina, Naval Forces Western Mindanao commander; Brig. Gen. Roberto Ancan, JTF ZamPeLan (Zamboanga Peninsula and Lanao provinces) commander; and, Col. Fernando Reyeg, JTF Basilan commander.
