ROXAS CITY, Philippines -- Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Victor S. Ibrado has announced the recruitment of 500 more soldiers who would make up a new Army battalion to support the existing units in the Western Visayas region.

The 500 new recruits will make up the 82nd Infantry Battalion, said Major General Vicente Porto, chief of the 3rd Infantry Division based in Capiz province.

"The 82nd IB may be operational in the next few months," Porto said on Saturday.

He said the new battalion would strengthen the military's internal security operation in Western Visayas.

At present, there is only one battalion in Panay Island, the 47th IB based in Calinog town, Iloilo. Porto said one battalion was not enough to neutralize communist groups in the island so they needed to form another battalion.

Panay Island is composed of four provinces -- Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo. The New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has three front committees in these provinces.

Ibrado, who served as 3rd Infantry Division chief in 2006, visited the Panay troops last May 2 and promised to minimize the insurgency problem by pourin in more troops.

The military chief admitted that he was worried by the recent attacks launched by the NPA in the central part of Panay Island.

Ibrado also called on the local governments to continue helping the military address the insurgency problem, saying the problem was also socio-economic.

He cited as model the cooperation extended by the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, and Leyte in the anti-insurgency campaign.