BY: FAYETTE C. RIÑEN
CEBU CITY, September 18 (PIA) --- Insurgency still poses as the greatest challenge in the internal security threat but the Armed Forces of the Philippines - Central Command (AFP-CentCom) said armed conflict in affected areas in the Visayas Region is already ‘manageable.’
AFP-CentCom Commanding General Maj. Gen. Nicanor Vivar said only five out of the 16 provinces in the Visayas remain a huge ‘concern.’ He cited the five provinces as Samar, Northern Samar, Iloilo, Capiz and Negros Occidental.
“But by the end of this month or within the first part of October, we will be declaring the province of Samar as conflict-manageable and development ready,” said Vivar adding that they are just preparing the necessary documents to be completed before its declaration.
Vivar expressed confidence that the 2016 deadline given to stamp out insurgency in conflict areas can be achieved earlier maybe even by next year. “The strength of the NPAs is slowly waning. They do not have the volume anymore,” said Vivar during his first meeting with the Cebu media this morning.
The newly-installed CentCom commander said the military is now adopting a different mode. “We are no longer for winning the war. But rather we are for winning the peace,” said Vivar.
Vivar said the NPA will still attempt to regain back its once-territorial areas when asked on whether the reports of some suspicious strangers knocking on doors in the towns of Aloguinsan and Dalaguete in southern Cebu signal the comeback of the NPA.
“There will always be attempts (by the NPA). It is part of the psywar. But the NPA will not succeed because it has lost its strength,” stressed Vivar. (mbcn/fcr/PIA7)