CEBU, Philippines - Some 141 Cebuanos are now part of the Army Reserve Command after they were enlisted as reservists and are now under the 1st Cebu Ready Reserve Battalion.
The reservists, 98 of them from the town of Dumanjug, and the rest from Bantayan, took oath in separate ceremonies and pinning of ranks recently held by the 7th Regional Community Defense Group of the ARC.
Retired Army Colonel Ceferino Layao, acting Division Commander of the 19th Ready Reserve Division, conducted the oath-taking ceremony with reservists reciting the oath of enlistment into the Reserve force held at the respective municipal social halls.
The reservists will now have a rank of Private in the Army’s reserve force.
Col. Raymundo Bañares Jr., commanding officer of the RCDG-7, said the activity is part of his program in the region to empower the participation of the community and other stakeholders by strengthening the reserve force.
The reservists were graduates of the Community Defense Disaster Risk Reduction Management Training, a flagship program of its unit, Office of Civil Defense and the Cebu Provincial Government.
Bañares said the reservists are now incorporated into the Army’s Reserve Force.
He explained that these reservists had undergone the lectures, trainings, orientations and practical exercises on disaster relief and rescue operations, fire prevention and suppression including the fight against illegal drugs and illegal fishing, environmental protection, maintenance on peace and order and other related socio-economic activities conducted in the town this year.
Dumanjug town mayor Nelson Garcia, who was the guest speaker during the oath taking ceremony, said he was very grateful for the RCDG’s in strengthening the recruitment of reservists especially in his town.
Garcia further said these reservists could be of great help in curbing criminalities in the town, maintaining peace and order and responding to disasters and calamities.
He added that he will give rewards to those reservist members who could be of help in maintaining the town’s peace and order situation.
He said P10,000 will be given to those who could help in curbing illegal drugs and P5,000 for illegal gambling, insurgency, disasters and calamities. (FREEMAN)