FORCES REPOSITIONED. Brig. Gen. Leonel Nicolas (right), 102nd Infantry Brigade commander, sends off the troops to be deployed against New People’s Army rebels in Misamis Occidental on Saturday (May 28, 2022). The brigade targets to defeat the Guerrilla Front Sendong, the last remaining organized front of the NPA’s Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee, by June. (Photo courtesy of 102nd Infantry Brigade)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Philippine Army’s 102nd Infantry Brigade (102nd IBde) has repositioned its forces to defeat the remaining New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Misamis Occidental.
Dubbed the final push, the 102nd IBde aims to bring down by June the Guerrilla Front Sendong, the last remaining organized front of the NPA’s Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee (WMRPC).
The active NPA members are scattered in different areas in Misamis Occidental.
“The additional forces will support the 10th Infantry Battalion in all of its operational activities in Misamis Occidental,” Brig. Gen. Leonel Nicolas, 102nd IBde commander, said in a statement on Saturday.
The 102nd IBde is the primary unit of the 1st Infantry Division tasked to defeat the NPA’s WMRPC operating in the Zamboanga Peninsula and Misamis Occidental.
Nicolas said the people of Misamis Occidental have nothing to fear as additional soldiers will ensure that they are protected.
He urged communities to remain vigilant and actively support the campaign to end the insurgency.
“This is a battle that cannot be won alone by the barrels of our gun but by the unification of the government and the people against an ideology that has brought terror and cost the lives of many throughout the years,” he said.
The 102nd IBde has reduced to 37 the total combatants of the WMRPC, which had 284 members starting the second quarter of 2019.
The brigade has also recovered 194 assorted firearms during clashes and those surrendered by NPA surrenderers.
The Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the National Democratic Front as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973. (PNA)
