RETURN TO THE FOLD. Army officials (from left) Lt. Col. Emelito Thaddeus Logan, commander of 79th Infantry Battalion; Col. Romeo Baleros, director of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office; Brig. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, commander of 303rd Infantry Brigade, applaud the surrender of a firearm of former communist rebel 'Ka Joros' to Brig. Gen. Eric Vinoya (2nd from right), commander of Joint Task Force-Negros, during the North Negros Peace Summit in Escalante City on Friday (Sept. 20, 2019). Vinoya said they aim to dismantle the NPA’s northern and central Negros fronts by the end of 2019. (PNA photo by Nanette L. Guadalquiver)
BACOLOD CITY -- The military’s Joint Task Force (JTF) Negros is looking at dismantling the two Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) rebel fronts on the island by the end of 2019.
Brig. Gen. Eric Vinoya, commander of JTF-Negros, said in a press briefing here on Friday the aim is to first take down the communist-terrorist group’s northern and central Negros fronts.
“Our target for the northern Negros front and the central Negros front is up to the end of this year,” he said.
Vinoya, who is also assistant division commander of 3rd Infantry Division (3ID), said the fast-tracked operations for the rest of the NPA’s fronts on the island will follow next year.
“The target given by the President is until the end of his term,” the army official said. With the creation of the JTF-Negros, the Philippine Army is complemented by the assets of the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Air Force.
The Army maintains two brigades in Negros Island. The 303rd Infantry Brigade based in Murcia, Negros Occidental, led by Brig. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, supervises the 94th, 79th, and 62nd infantry battalions (IB).
Under the jurisdiction of 302IB stationed in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental, headed by Col. Noel Baluyan, are the 15th, 11th, and 47th IBs.
Vinoya said as the head of JTF-Negros, he is tasked to expedite the ending of local communist armed conflict in Negros through various efforts, including focused military operations, community support programs, and working with the Provincial Task Force on Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC) in the two provinces.
“With those two provincial task forces, there will be a whole-of-nation approach already. There is a collaboration not only from the security forces but also from local government units and national government agencies,” he added.
In Negros Occidental alone, there is a continued presence of the CPP-NPA cadres mainly in the first, fifth and six districts, although the military said their number has dwindled in recent years.
The forming of the PTF-ELCAC is in compliance with President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order (EO) 70.
Under EO 70, there is a shift from a traditional military-centric approach to a civilian-led way in confronting the communist terrorist groups (CTGs) to a whole-of-nation approach, in which the military solution should be just one of the many components in addressing the communist insurgency.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)
