Army Declares Leyte Town as Insurgency-Free

Ormoc City — The local government of Palompon, Leyte and the Philippine Army jointly declared the town as insurgency-free Wednesday.

The declaration was based on the absence of insurgency threats in the town for several years, citing military’s intelligence assessment.

The town, which hosts the tourist haven Kalanggaman Island, has been insurgency-free when two of its remote villages were cleared from influence of communist rebels in 2003.

Lt. Col. Nedy Espulgar recounted that the town met the imperatives stipulated in the National Internal Security Plan (NISP) in terms of communist movement that made peace and order stabilized.

Mayor Ramon Oñate and 802nd Brigade Commander Col. Dinoh Dolina signed the declaration witnessed by Col. Nedy Espulgar, battalion commander of the Army’s 19th Infantry Battalion based in Kananga town; Chief Insp. Hipolito Delima, town police chief; and other local officials.

The signing of the declaration was contained in the Municipal Resolution No. 230-020215 passed by the office of the local council.

The recent declaration brought down to 25 Leyte towns and cities targeted by the 802nd IB for insurgency-free declaration.

“We hope that all other towns and cities within our area of operations will soon be declared insurgency-free before this semester ends. Intensified engagement is underway so that other local government units through its peace and order council may initiate same effort,” Espulgar said.

Palompon is now the third town in Leyte to be tagged insurgency-free next to Merida on Sept. 4 and Matag-ob on June 12 last year.

Despite Palompon’s “cleared” status, the military will still be backing the local government unit with the Philippine National Police in its peace and development initiatives.

In his message, Col. Dolina, explained the impact of declaring Palompon as insurgency-free to the local economy as well as to the constituents considering its high potential for growth and development.

On the other hand, Oñate is confident that with such declaration, peace and tranquility in Palompon will flourish and further increase confidence from the business sector. (PNA) FFC/SQM/ELVIE R. ROA/EGR/PJN