• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Highly urbanized Bacolod City is now insurgency-free.
The declaration was made yesterday by the Regional Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Center (RJPSCC), during its 2nd quarter meeting held at the Bacolod City Government Center, presided by co-chairpersons PBrig. Gen. Archival Macala, officer in charge of Police Regional Office 6, Brig. Gen. Orlando Edralin, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, and Commodore Arnaldo Lim, commander of Coast Guard District – Western Visayas.
Macala disclosed that the declaration of Bacolod City as insurgency-free signifies that authorities were able to neutralize the operations of the New People’s Army in the highly urbanized city.
In the past several years, not a single insurgency related incident occurred in Bacolod City, based on reports of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and PNP.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, numerous incidents of liquidation activities carried out by the NP Special Partisan Unit took place in the city, even inside school campus, military and police records further showed.
City Administrator Pacifico Maghari Jr. yesterday said the declaration of Bacolod City as insurgency free is a boost to the promotion of tourism and to its vision of becoming a “super city.”
“In order to make Bacolod a super city, it should be safe, not only to investors, tourists, but its people as well,” Maghari said.
In 2019, the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod passed a resolution declaring the CPP-NPA-NDF non persona grata, while the City Peace and Order Council declared Bacolod as insurgency free, which was concurred by the City Joint Security Coordinating Center.
This was adopted by the RJPSCC during its quarterly meeting yesterday, also attended by Councilor Pau Sy, chairperson of the SP committee on Peace and Order, who represented Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, Councilors Thaddy Sayson, Kalaw Puentevella, Celia Flor, and Simple Distrito.
The RJPSCC also discussed its preparations for the synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on October this year.*
