DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, Philippines — Local officials of Negros Oriental have joined hands with the police and military in a bid to step up the campaign against insurgency in the province.
Top officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police in the province, members of the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC), and mayors of the six cities and 19 towns of Negros Oriental on Thursday signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to expand efforts against the communist insurgency hounding their localities for decades.
Gov. Manuel Sagarbarria, who heads the PPOC, and some of the mayors were not present during the ceremony due to the late delivery of invitation letters but they all sent representatives to sign the MOA on their behalf, the military said.
Brig. Gen. Joey Escanillas, commander of the Army’s 302nd Infantry Brigade based in Tanjay City, said the MOA identified the specific roles of the local officials in assisting law enforcers in addressing the insurgency problem.
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The agreement, among others, called on mayors and barangay officials to initiate the filing of cases against persons financing terrorism; monitor and report to the AFP and PNP the presence and activities of suspected urban-based communist groups; and work with the security sector in verifying groups that may have links to the rebel groups.