PAGADIAN City–A military official announced on Tuesday they have significantly reduced the influence of the New People’s Army (NPA) in most of the areas in this province.
Lt. Col. Alvin Luzon, Army’s 53rd Infantry Battalion, said there was no recorded NPA-initiated violence for more than a year now within the area of responsibility of his command.
The Luzon-led battalion has jurisdiction over the one component city and 20 of the 26 towns of this province.
The six towns that are not within the jurisdiction of the Army’s 53rd Infantry Battalion are Bayog, Dumingag, Josefina, Mahayag, Molave, and Tambulig.
Luzon said the NPA failed to carry out atrocities since they were highly mobile brought about by the continuous law enforcement operation of his battalion in coordination with the police and local government units (LGUs).
Luzon said that national government organizations, peoples’ organizations and other civic groups within his area of jurisdiction also support his battalion’s peace- keeping efforts in line with “Oplan Bayanihan,” aside from the police and LGUs.
“We were able to accomplish our tasks because of the help and involvement of the concerned stakeholders,” Luzon said as he thanked the different sectors for their support.
Meanwhile, the Army’s 53rd Infantry Battalion celebrated on Friday its 13th founding anniversary with simple but fitting ceremonies.
The headquarters of the 53rd Infantry Battalion is based in the nearby town of Guipos, this province. (PNA)
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