FOR GOOD. The 4th Marine Brigade led by BGen. Vicente Mark Anthony Blanco pays a courtesy visit to members of the Ilocos Norte provincial board during their regular session at the Capitol Session Hall on Monday (Nov. 14, 2022). He said the Marines' deployment to northern Luzon is permanent. (Photo by Leilanie Adriano)
LAOAG CITY – Ilocos Norte officials on Monday reaffirmed the province’s insurgency-free status, assuring investors of its readiness for development.
This as members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP or provincial board) unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming the declaration of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) that the Ilocos Region, which includes the two cities, 21 municipalities, and 559 barangays of Ilocos Norte, is under a state of stable internal peace and security.
“This means that residents here continue to enjoy generally peaceful communities with no monitored atrocity by communist rebels in the province so far.” said provincial board member Elmer Faylogna, sponsor of the measure.
Nonetheless, Ilocos Norte has welcomed the presence of additional troops composed of the 4th Marine Brigade here in September after their last deployment in Ilocos Norte back in 1983.
During their courtesy visit at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan on Monday, BGen. Vicente Mark Anthony Blanco reassured fellow Ilocanos that the Marines will stay in the north for good. Blanco is a native of this city as his family resides in Barangay 46 Nalbo.
Since they arrived at the Laoag International Airport, the Marine units from Sulu have been augmenting counter-insurgency operations in Central and Northern Luzon.
They have also assisted the province in its disaster and rescue operations, as well as in the clearing of roads and bringing of relief goods to typhoon victims, particularly in the hard-hit towns of Adams and Pagudpud.
“Being [declared as] insurgency free is not the end. We are here to assist the Philippine Army and help sustain it,” Blanco said on Monday.
The brigade's headquarters is located in Barangay Bubon of Burgos town.
“Just by [the Marines] being there, I feel safe already. Thank you for your presence as well,” Vice Governor Cecilia Araneta-Marcos said during the servicemen's courtesy visit at the Capitol on Monday.
Last Saturday, the Marines wowed local residents in downtown Laoag during their static and kinetic display which is in line with the post-celebration of the Philippine Marine Corps' 72nd founding anniversary last Nov. 12. The activity aimed to introduce the Philippine Marines to the community. (PNA)
