Google map of Dumingag town, Zamboanga del Sur.
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Zamboanga del Sur town of Dumingag has rolled out its own a counter-insurgency program, dubbed as “Oplan Amuma”, to defeat "communist terrorism" in the municipality, officials said Thursday.
Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, 53rd Infantry Battalion commander, said Oplan Amuma is the counterinsurgency action plan of Dumingag to end local communist armed conflict and to address the issues exploited by the communist New People’s Army (NPA), especially in its hinterland barangays of Dilud, Saad, Labangon, and Sunop.
Herrera said the four barangays are also the previous conflict-affected areas and priority barangays of the Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) cleared through Community Support Programs (CSP) and Retooled Community Support Programs (RCSP).
Dumingag, composed of 44 barangays, is a second class municipality in Zamboanga del Sur. It has a population of 47,485 people as of the 2015 census.
Mayor Joan Abejuela, who chairs the municipal TF-ELCAC, said in a statement Oplan Amuma will significantly contribute to the municipality's fight against communist terrorism.
“With this counterinsurgency plan, we hope to completely erase the traces of communist terrorism in our municipality and address the issues for the sake of our people,” Abejuela said.
Herrera thanked Abejuela and the municipality government officials for their commitment to addressing communist terrorism.
“This action plan will not only help the military in its campaign against the (NPA) terrorists but will also help attain sustainable peace by addressing the issues exploited by the NPAs in the hinterlands,” Herrera said.
Dumingag is the first among the 26 municipalities and one component city in Zamboanga del Sur to launch a counterinsurgency action plan. (PNA)
