ILOILO – Nine villages in the town of Tubungan were declared free from insurgency affectation.
An area clearing evaluation (ACE) on Monday was attended by the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) through the 301st Brigade, municipal government of Tubungan spearheaded by Mayor Roquito Tacsagon, and barangay officials of nine villages.
These villages were Igtuble, Igpaho, Molina, Bikil, Boloc, Bato, Nagba, Igdampog Sur and Igdampog Norte.
These barangays were cleared through the cooperation of all concerned agencies and the Community Support Program (CSP) of the AFP.
According to IPPO director, Police Colonel Gilbert Gorero, the insurgency-clearing process has three phases – municipal level, provincial and regional.
“A certain village cleared in the provincial level has to apply for the regional level to totally declare them as ‘cleared’ from insurgency provided that they meet the parameters,” Gorero said.
A barangay will only be declared as insurgency-free when there is a dismantling of Communist Party of the Philippines New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), politico-military structure; the denial of CPP-NPA access to the area, resources, and manpower; and the establishment of a functioning barangay information network and integrated community public safety./PN
