DEPLOYMENT. Key government officials during the send-off ceremony of teams on Wednesday at the Basey National High School Gymnasium. Government troops have deployed its retooled community support program (RCSP) teams in Basey, Samar in the bid to identify issues and concerns in remote communities threatened by the New People’s Army. (Photo courtesy of Philippine Army 63rd Infantry Battalion)
TACLOBAN CITY – Government troops have deployed its retooled community support program (RCSP) teams in Basey, Samar in the bid to identify issues and concerns in remote communities threatened by the New People’s Army (NPA).
Key regional officials from the Philippine Army, Philippine National Police, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and local government officials led the send-off ceremony on Wednesday at the Basey National High School Gymnasium.
The teams are composed of personnel from the Philippine Army 63rd Infantry Battalion and Samar police provincial office. Tagged as priority areas in the deployment are the villages of Guirang, Inuntan, Burgos, Cancaiyas, Bulao, and Cogon.
“Their mission is to identify the issues of the people that will be raised to the concerned government agencies and local government for them to address it accordingly. This is a way for the government to reach its services to the far-flung areas of the country and let people feel that no one is left behind,” the Philippine Army 63rd Infantry Battalion said in a statement issued on Thursday.
The Philippine Army said the task of the teams is to facilitate solutions for those identified problems through the convergence of efforts of different government agencies supervised by the local task force of ending local communist armed conflict (ELCAC).
The military initially identified 100 remote villages in the Eastern Visayas region as a priority for RCSP deployment due to threats of the NPA.
As of mid-2020, the NPA in Eastern Visayas has 384 fighters with 363 firearms, influencing 162 villages, a small fraction of the 4,390 villages in the region’s six provinces, according to a report of the regional task force ELCAC.
The NPA, which has been waging a five-decade armed struggle against the government, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)
