• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Army’s 3rd Infantry Division is targeting the declaration of Western Visayas in a status of Stable Internal Peace and Security (SIPS) by September, disclosed its commander, Maj. Gen. Marion Sison.
Negros Island was already placed in SIPS status, following the dismantling of five NPA guerilla fronts, including neutralization of its key leaders, who were either killed or captured in gun battles or law enforcement operations, and its mass-based organizations, and clearing of all insurgency-affected barangays.
Last week, three top leaders of Komiteng Rehiyonal – Panay also died in a series of clashes with Army soldiers in Iloilo, among them, Maria Concepcion Araneta Bocala, popularly known as Concha, the deputy secretary of Komiteng Rehiyon-Panay (KR-P); Vivian Torato Teodosio, secretary of KR Panay Central Front; and Vicente Hinojales, KR Panay secretary, in Lambunao, Iloilo, last week.
Concha, a resident of Barangay Pueblo, Mandurriao, Iloilo City, has a P5.3 million bounty for her arrest. She was convicted for murder, according to a statement issued by the 3rd Infantry Division.
Seven other leaders of KR-Panay and its Central Front also died in a series of encounters with 61st and 12th Infantry Battalions in Lambunao, and Calinog, early this month.
“The deaths of Bocala, Hinojales,and Teodosio, along with several other high-ranking officials of KR-P and CF (W) mark an end of the decades-long insurgency in Panay, Sison said.
Hence, I urge the remaining NPAs to lay down their arms and choose a path of peace. Your leaders have met their fate. You should not suffer the same. It is high time for you to embrace a future free from violence and live a peaceful life, he added.
Sison lauded the operating infantry units of 301st Infantry Brigade under the leadership of Brig. Gen. Michael Samson, for their relentless effort, commitment, and perseverance in the conduct of focused military operations to put an end to local communist armed conflict, particularly in Panay.
He also attributed the success of the combat operations to the effective, efficient and seamless implementation of Executive Order No. 70, which institutionalizes the Whole-of-Nation Approach in Ending the Local Communist Armed Conflict.*