BALER, Aurora, January 13, 2012-The 7th Infantry “Kaugnay” Division chief here renewed his target to totally eliminate insurgency problem in Central Luzon due to the continues dwindling number of rebels in the provinces of Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan and Pampanga.
7th ID Chief Maj. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. said that as soon as possible before the end of this year the entire region will be tagged as “Clear Central Luzon (of NPAs-New Peoples’ Army) by 2012 and the next year in 2013 would be in Ilocos Region as part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) program to eradicate insurgency problem in the rest of the country in the succeeding years.
“There were more or less 100 rebels left in Central Luzon and half of it are considered as organized crime groups (OCG) with lack of ideology and are just thriving on extortion and illegal activities particular the ‘Marxista-Leninista Partido ng Pilipinas;’ thus, the Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP) Bayanihan of the AFP was effective against security threats,” Mabanta said.
“It is in line with the AFP IPSP 4Ps strategy referring to People, Process and Systems, Partnership and Policy as the guiding principles of the soldiers to finish their mission for the love of the country,” he added but did not elaborate their strategies.
Mabanta emphasized that he sees his goal of an insurgency free region as first in the Philippine history to attain it as the number of communists in the region continues to decline.
Mabanta was a former military spokesman and a former chief of staff of the Philippine Marine Corps, ex-deputy chief of staff for operations or J3, and replaced Major General Ireneo Espino as commander of the 7th infantry division of the Philippine Army.
Mabanta had also served as commander of the Civil Relations Service (CRS) and as spokesman of the AFP. He graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and was a member of class 1981 “Dimalupig” class. (Jason de Asis)
