BACOLOD City – Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson expressed optimism after the Provincial Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Council (JPSCC) has declared Negros Occidental under a state of stable internal peace and security (SIPS).
In an interview yesterday morning, Lacson said investors will feel more confident in investing knowing that the province is peaceful and orderly.
The joint recommendation by JPSCCC, composed of the Philippine Army, Philippine National Police and the Philippine Coast Guard, was made during last Tuesday’s meeting at the Camp Alfredo Montelibano Sr. here.
According to Lacson, they have always wanted to reach the level of a stable peace and order situation.
“At least the government they [Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army] set up in the province has been dismantled,” Lacson said.
Major Mervin Rosal, chief of the Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (303IBde) Civil Military Operations, said that under the SIPS stage, the provinces are categorized as cleared, unaffected and relatively peaceful.
According to Rosal, the local government units acknowledge and accept that only law enforcement operations (LEOs) are needed, and will signify that the province is already normalized.
The three NPA guerilla fronts in northern and central Negros in areas of operations of the 303IBde and two other guerilla fronts in southern Negros, which is under the jurisdiction of the 302nd Infantry Brigade, have been declared as dismantled by the Philippine Army.
The joint declaration by the JPSCC will be forwarded to the Provincial Peace and Order Council of Negros Occidental and then to the Regional Peace and Order Council for concurrence.
Despite the declaration, however, outgoing Armed Forces of the Philippines Visayas Command chief Lt. General Benedict Arevalo said the Philippine Army will remain in Negros Occidental, although he leaves the discretion to the 3rd Infantry Division for its realignment.
The 303IBde also believes that there are only 33 active NPA combatants left in the province after the rebel group suffered massive setbacks and defeats over the past few months. (Watchmen Daily Journal)/PN
