• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Army’s 3rd Infantry Division reported that they neutralized 116 New People’s Army rebels in Negros and Panay this year.
In a report, Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, 3ID commander, said that 47 of the neutralized rebels died in gunbattles, including several of its top cadres and regional commanders, while 69 were either surrendered or were arrested.
In the same period, 145 firearms were also recovered, Sison added.
The 3ID supervises the 301st, 302nd and 303rd Infantry Brigades stationed in Negros and Panay.
During the 89th Armed Forces of the Philippines founding anniversary held at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on December 20, the 301st Infantry Brigade led by Brig. Gen. Michael Samson, a Negrense, was conferred with the AFP Campaign Streamer for the dismantling of Southern Panay Front (SPF) under the Komiteng Rehiyonal Panay, which operates in Iloilo and Antique.
Samson attributed his achievement to the 61st Infantry Battalion and other units under the operational control of the 301st Infantry Brigade.
It can be recalled that a series of encounters in 2023 and 2024 in the hinterlands of Iloilo and Antique resulted in the neutralization of more than 15 SPF members, with 20 more members surrendered, according to Samson, which he attributed to dismantling of the guerilla front.
On the other hand, Sison said the 3ID operations in Negros and Panay also significantly weakened the terrorist organization in the two regions, by dismantling three guerrilla fronts (GFs), two sub-regional committees, and their regional strike forces, and has disrupted the operations of its urban support groups.
That led to the declaration of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Antique as Stable Internal Peace and Security (SIPs) areas, accomplishments that earned 3ID the Gawad Parangal Plaque from the NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict).
During the 4th Quarter Campaign Progress Review and Assessment (CPRA) for Calendar Year 2024 held at Camp Macario Peralta in Jamindan, Capiz, the 47th Infantry Battalion stationed in Cauayan, Negros Occidental, was also conferred with a Command Plaque by Sison, in recognition of their successful encounters in Candoni town, which led to the neutralization of seven rebels, who died in the gunbattle, and recovery of 13 high powered firearms.
“We have to prepare for the campaign of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to end Internal Security Operations,” Sison told his commanders.*
