Army forms new battalion to fight rebels in East Visayas

TACLOBAN CITY—Apparently believing that there’s strength in numbers, the military has created a new Army battalion for Eastern Visayas in a bid to accomplish what countless generals and officers had failed to achieve in the last five decades—end communist insurgency in the region.

But the 500 soldiers, who would compose the newly created 93rd Infantry Battalion (IB), were still undergoing training and could not be
deployed yet, according to Capt. Francis Ragno, head of the Division Public Affairs Office of the 8th Infantry Division (ID) based in Catbalogan City, Samar province.

13th battalion

At least 128 of the new battalion’s members would be fresh graduates, while the rest would be from other units of the 8th ID, Ragno said.

The 93rd IB would be the 8th ID’s 13th battalion. Four of the battalions—19th IB, 46th IB, 34th IB and 63rd IB—had been deployed to Mindanao for the war on terror.

According to Ragno, the new battalion was created and activated by Maj. Gen. Raul Farnacio, commanding officer of the 8th ID, on Feb. 5 to help in the counterinsurgency campaign in Eastern Visayas, particularly on Samar Island.

Destination: Samar

He told the Inquirer in a phone interview that the target of the 93rd IB was to end the communist insurgency in the region.

Ragno said the soldiers would be deployed to any of the three Samar provinces— Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar—where the New People’s Army (NPA) was active.

He said that while the Army was ready to do battle with the rebels, he was still appealing to NPA members to return to the folds of the law.

The military said at least 18 NPA members had surrendered last year and received financial assistance to return to a life of peace.

According to Ragno, several rebels had surrendered this year although he does not have an exact figure.