A MILITARY commander in Eastern Visayas is eyeing the defeat of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) in the region by the third quarter of this year.
Maj. Gen. Camilo Ligayo, commander of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division, said two NPA guerrilla fronts are operating in the region, with one of them already weakened.
“I am confident that we will finally end this armed conflict by the third quarter of this year, or safe to say by the end of the year,” Ligayo said.
Ligayo said NPA rebels in the region have lost a lot of mass base support due to the relentless military campaign against the insurgents.
He said the NPA had four guerilla fronts in the area when he assumed command of the 8th ID in October last year, from now-retired Maj. Gen. Edgardo De Leon.
“Now, it’s down to two. Of the two, one is already weakened…I am confident we will finish this problem by this year,” said Ligayo.
Capt. Jefferson Mariano, the 8th ID spokesman, said they are “optimistic” they will end the NPA problem in Eastern Visayas by the third quarter of the year due to the effective efforts of the National Task Task to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC)
Mariano said the two remaining NPA guerrilla fronts in the region are based in Northern Samar.
“There are other (NPA) groups remaining (in other areas) but they are no longer significant, their number is minimal,” said Mariano.
“But we remain vigilant in these areas because they can still conduct atrocities considering three men can burn equipment. That’s why we are still vigilant, but they are not that significant (in number),” said Mariano.
