CentCom chief gets his third "star"

CEBU, Philippines - Major General Ralph Villanueva, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command, promoted to lieutenant general.

Villanueva assumed office last November 2.

In his stint as CentCom commander, his various accomplishments in the area of operations include a total of 84 tactical engagements, 73 of which were government initiated while 11 were initiated by the enemy for a favorable ratio of 1:6:3.

Such also resulted to the discovery of 58 enemy encampments. Noteworthy to mention is the apprehension of nine top-ranking leaders of the New People’s Army.

Also, during his command, the troops were able to recover 144 firearms, 60 of which are high powered and 84 are low powered.

It is well noted that in his command as the new installed commander here in the Visayas, particularly CentCom, he has made a commendable performance with an overall accomplishments leaving 223 communist-terrorists neutralized as against 63 battle casualties in the government side.

Likewise, the Command was also able to validate and clear 73 barangays mostly in the areas of Negros and Samar.

For disasters, his troops evacuated and rescued 1,798 persons and relocated 204 families to safer grounds on various calamities.

Further, this accomplishment is instrumental in the conduct of Rapid Assessment through Air and Ground Reconnaissance and able to deliver 162,456 pounds of assorted relief goods to affected areas here in the Visayas region.

Moreover, 232 former rebels availed of the Social Integration Program and that a total of 337 Kalayaan Barangay Program Projects worth P407 million were completed.

The KBP projects include farm-to-market road, water system, school building, health center, electrification and street lights mostly in Negros and Samar. With all these accomplishments, Cebu and Bohol were already turned over to the control of the local government units to include Guimaras, Siquijor and Biliran provinces as insurgency-free areas.

CentCom, in general, remains responsive to its campaign and continuously provides healthy space for national growth and development by widening the Visayas safe areas that will further propel a peaceful mindset for investors pursuing various development projects in the Visayas. —/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)