Is Southern Leyte Insurgency Free?

Maasin City – New Peoples Army spokesman Roy Santos of the New Peoples Army’s Efren Martirez command in Eastern Visayas claims that rebels had recruited 500 new members in the region in 2011.

Santos added that the Armed Forces of the Philippines was “daydreaming” when it declared Southern Leyte and other parts of Eastern Visayas as insurgency-free.

In an exclusive interview with SLT Lieutenant Alejandro Paz of the 8th Regional Defense Group based in Barangay Canturing down played reports that the NPA was recruiting new members in Southern Leyte. Although he admitted there were still insurgents in the province he insisted they were monitoring their movements regularly.

His revelation came as a complete surprise since last October the AFP’s Central Command Chief Lieutenant General Ralph Villanueva who arrived here with three heavily armed Huey helicopters had declared Southern Leyte as “insurgency free”.

PNP Provincial Director Allan Cuevillas told SLT that he would immediately verify Lieutenant Paz’s report with his own intelligence team before deciding on what action he would take.

Meanwhile the AFP spokesperson of camp Hibuk-Hibuk in Sogod has assured Southern Leyteños that there were no insurgents in the province. And even if there were, they could easily be neutralized.(By: MARK RIMAS)

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