TACLOBAN CITY—The top Army official in Eastern Visayas is seeking the return of soldiers who were deployed to northern Mindanao to help fight the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf.
Major General Mario Chan, commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division, said he had requested national headquarters to direct the return of members of the 43rd Infantry Battalion (IB) within the year. “Hopefully, they will be redeployed in Samar where there is still presence of the rebels,” Chan said on Monday.
The 43rd IB was sent to Mindanao in 2008 and returned on Nov. 21 last year, only to be redeployed back to Mindanao after the Maguindanao massacre in Ampatuan town.
Considering their vast experience, the soldiers are of big help in the anti-insurgency campaign in Eastern Visayas, especially in Samar, Chan said.
He said that while Southern Leyte, Biliran and even Leyte were no longer hampered by the insurgency problem, the three provinces of Samar Island—(western) Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar—continued to be hounded.
Chan also sought the support of local government officials and the Regional Development Council to help the military’s efforts in building roads and bridges in Samar towns, where members of the New People’s Army are active.
He said the Philippine Army in the region, through its engineering battalion, had been opening roads and helping construct roads and bridges in some Samar towns. He cited the P13-million bridge project in Matuguinao town in Samar, which would serve seven interior barangays.
Opening road networks, Chan said, would not only help in their campaign against the rebels but would even bring economic opportunities in areas where the road links would open. Joey Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas