DND wants to remove all civilians in Crow Valley

The Department of Defense (DND) planned to clear Crow Valley in Tarlac province of civilian settlements to turn the former US bombing test site into a training facility for the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters on Tuesday that the military needed a “large area” for joint training exercises by the Army, Navy and Air Force.

“Crow Valley is a military reservation,” Lorenzana said. “It is used for bombing [tests],” he added. “In the first place, they (civilian settlements) should not be there,” Lorenzana said. —Jeannette I. Andrade