Army hunts 19 remaining NPAs in Zamboanga Peninsula

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PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur — The Military has assured mountain resort operators in Zamboanga del Norte and Misamis Occidental of their security amid latest encounters with communist rebels within the space.

Lt. Col. Nolasco Coderos Jr., commander of the Military’s 97th Infantry Battalion, mentioned the armed encounters in the previous few days in Sergio Osmeña and Piñan cities have been because of the New Individuals’s Military guerrillas being constricted by intensified navy operations, and never attributable to a harassment operation.

Coderos defined that the rebels have been working away from their lairs in Misamis Occidental’s aspect of the sprawling Malindang mountain vary and had strayed into Piñan and Osmeña cities.

This gave his troopers the chance to chase after the rebels who then engaged in a firefight in a bid to purchase time for an escape.

Lt. Col. Jose Andre Monje, commander of the 10th Infantry Battalion working in Misamis Occidental, mentioned they’ve counted 12 remaining rebels within the province, indicating their radically weakening state.

Over at Zamboanga del Norte, Coderos mentioned solely seven rebels try to take care of holdouts there.

The boundaries of the 2 provinces host what stays of the Western Mindanao Regional Get together Committee of the Communist Get together of the Philippines, mentioned Coderos.

The discount of insurgent presence within the space has given rise to eco-tourism locations round Mt. Malindang.

Lawyer Orlando Salatandre, president of the Mt. Malindang Tourism Federation, expressed gratitude to the efforts of the navy in guaranteeing the security of the tourism locations, saying their continued operation creates jobs and different financial alternatives within the communities, therefore serving to tackle poverty.

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