More troops to be sent to Samar Island to go after rebels, secure May 9 polls
TACLOBAN CITY — More soldiers will be deployed to Samar Island to help go against communist rebels and ensure peaceful elections on May 9.
The additional soldiers to be sent to Samar, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar would come from the 3rd Infantry Battalion under Col. Juvenal Mark Tayamen, said the Army’s Visayas Command in a statement.
In the past six years, they were assigned to the hinterlands of Davao City.
Several parts of Samar Island were identified in past elections as areas of concern.
The Commission on Elections in the region has yet to release the areas it considers as “hot spots.”
Lt. Gen. Robert Dauz, the commander of the Visayas Command based in Cebu City, said the troop deployment on the island would help quell its insurgency problem.
“The addition of this unit only manifests the sincerity of our government to eradicate the menace of the communist terrorists in this part of the country and sustain the people’s democratic way of life,” he said in a statement.
In a media interview, Major Gen. Edgardo de Leon, the commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City, Samar, said the troops would arrive this Saturday.
