6 Lanao towns now ‘insurgency free,’ says military

OZAMIZ CITY, Philippines—The Armed Forces of the Philippines has downgraded the communist insurgency in at least six Lanao del Norte towns to “a mere peace and order problem.”

Brigadier General Noel Coballes, commander of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, said there has been negligible New People’s Army activity in the Kapatagan Valley, where the towns of Kapatagan, Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Sapad, Lala, Baroy and Salvador are located, in recent years.

He said this prompted the military to declare these towns “insurgency-free.”

Coballes said the declaration stemmed from a joint security assessment by the Army and the police, which showed that there has been a radical reduction in communist rebel activities and influence in the area.

This means, he said, that the threat posed by the New People’s Army “is successfully downgraded into a mere law and order problem” leading to “significant improvement in the security situation.”

“This is what happened to Bohol, Cebu and the other previously declared insurgency-free areas,” Coballes added.

The Kapatagan Valley is within the operational jurisdiction of the Tukuran-Ramon Magsaysay-Aurora-Kapatagan-Karomatan district of the NPA.

The towns of Tukuran, Ramon Magsaysay and Aurora are in Zamboanga del Sur.

Coballes said that with the downgrading of the insurgency in the six towns, the military has also formally turned over the management of the peace and order of the Kapatagan Valley to the police.

He said the military hoped that the local governments of these towns will sustain the security gains by formulating and implementing socio-economic plans and programs.
“This is to address issues that may be exploited by the rebels in their recovery efforts,” Coballes said.

Elsewhere, the NPA remains to be one of the top concerns of the military.

In Compostela Valley for example, the rebels continue to stage attacks that compromise the security of civilians, according to Colonel Lyndon Paniza, spokesperson of the 10th Infantry Division based in Davao City.

Paniza said the NPA was so desperate to stall progress that they were now even targeting programs designed to benefit poor communities – such as the military’s peace and development efforts.

On Sunday, Paniza said the NPA launched two separate attacks in Pantukan and Nabunturan towns, which resulted in the wounding of seven soldiers.

The soldiers, he said, were part of the peace and development teams deployed in the towns.

“These two incidents show the NPA’s insincerity to international humanitarian laws and their desperate attempts to thwart the Army’s Peace and Developments efforts. Their claims of being the defender of the civilians are apparently opposed by their own acts,” Paniza said.