AFP hands over counter- insurgency to provincial government
LINGAYEN–Following the declaration that Pangasinan is now insurgency-free, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has transferred the lead role in conducting internal security operations to the local Peace and Order Council (POC) headed by Governor Amado Espino Jr.
The formal transfer was made on July 12 with the signing of a joint declaration and Memorandum of Agreement among Espino, Major General Irineo Espino, commander of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army based at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija, and Senior Superintendent Percival Barba of the Police Provincial Office (PPO).
Espino, a retired police colonel, expressed elation that after long years of armed struggle by the communist groups in which he had been personally involved as a police officer, the province has finally been declared insurgency-free.
He added that this development bodes well for his vision of developing the province as a “nice place to stay, live in, raise a family and invest.”
Records at the PNP provincial office show that up until 2006, there were still 76 insurgency-affected barangays in Pangasinan.
The AFP’s clearing operations, Internal Security Operations (ISO) and civil relations now state that all barangays are free of insurgency activities.
TIME FOR DEVELOPMENT
Espino urged local governments and other agencies to join hands and introduce development in the areas previously affected by the insurgency situation.
Major General (Irineo) Espino said the hand-over of ISO lead role to Pangasinan is “a clear manifestation of everyone’s commitment to bring peace and prosperity in the province of Pangasinan”.
Barba, for his part, said that with the province finally freed from the claws of insurgency, the provincial government and the PNP will ensure to; sustain the gains that have already been achieved.
The PPO has deployed the Provincial Public Mobile Safety Company at the borders of Pangasinan with Zambales and Nueva Ecija to prevent the insurgents from spilling over again to any part of the province.—LM
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