Clark Freeport Pampanga — Central Luzon, the birth place of the New People’s Army (NPA) is now waning its influence in the region that is now insurgency free, peaceful and ready for further economic development.
Major General Angelito De Leon, commander General of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army (PA) based in Fort Ramon Magsaysay, Palayan City, Nueva Ecija stressed this during the regular meeting of the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) here who said leaders of the region must now work together to maintain such condition and prevent insurgency from infiltrating the area.
The peace and order council is chaired by Bataan Gov. Albert Raymond S. Garcia who is also working not only for a insurgency free region but also free from graft and corruption and illegal drugs.
De Leon said Pampanga and Bataan led the provinces who are liberated from insurgency with the hope that other provinces will follow suit.
De Leon said only the remnants of the Communists Party of the Philippines and its military arm the New People Army (NPA) who are now engaging in on and off peace talks with the government are operating in the region. They are allegedly involved in extortion activities in order to survive.
“All of the province in Central Luzon are now peaceful and ready for further developement”, De Leon also said.
The NPA was organized on March 29, 1969 inside the Hacienda Luisita in Concepcion, Tarlac by Bernabe Buscayno alias Commander Dante and Jose Maria Sison, the alleged head of the CCP.
However, Commander Dante was captured in 1977 in Mexico, Pampanga by two young constabulary officers now Congressman Amado Espino of Pangasinan and former PNP Director General Arturo Lumibao. Buscayno were released by President Corazon Aquino in 1987 and now lives peacefully in Tarlac while Sison was based in Netherland engaging the present administration in peace talks.
Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino, regional director of the Police Regional Office III said the police operation called Double Barrel is effective in the campaign against illegal drugs and other forms of criminality in the region.
Aquino said that on the implementation of the double barrel about 1,876 household were visited that resulted in the arrest of 49 suspected drug personalities who are now undergoing treatment in the different rehabilitation center in the region.
With regards to the renewed police operations against illegal drugs covering the first quarter of 2017, a total of 114 operations were conducted that resulted in the arrest of 161 suspected drug personalities with 16 killed during the encounters with the raiding pro de teams.
To speed up the rehabilitation of the victims in their respective areas, Garcia said the governor’s also asked more rehabilitation program and subsidy from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation specially in the municipal level to assist local government units in their fight against illegal drugs. (Romeo Dizon)g