Maj. Gen. Romeo Dominguez, chief of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), has issued this list of don’ts to all military personnel under his command for the rest of the holidays.
In a memorandum to all Nolcom units in the Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and the Cordillera Administrative Region, Dominguez reminded soldiers of existing prohibitions against indiscriminate firing of firearms to welcome the New Year, and going to off-limit areas such as cockpits and bars.
Meanwhile, the command lauded its units for their "commendable performance" in 2003.
In a report, Nolcom said 64 communist rebels were killed, 68 were either captured or had surrendered, and 91 voluntarily yielded this year.
On the government side, 27 soldiers, 15 policemen and two civilian volunteers were "killed in action" and 51 others (30 soldiers, 18 policemen and three civilian volunteers) were wounded in mostly "treacherous attacks" by the New People’s Army.
Nolcom added that a number of communist leaders were "neutralized," namely former Ilocos-Cordillera regional committee secretary Araceli Arciaga, Ilocos sub-region political officer Josephine Perez, former Venerado Villacillo Front secretary Nonoy Soza, and Cagayan Valley regional medical staff officer Lourdes Manabag.
In 2003, Nolcom said government forces seized 199 assorted firearms — 97 high-powered and 102 low-powered. Forty-eight percent of these firearms were confiscated during "intensified combat operations," it added.
However, government troopers lost to the rebels 59 assorted firearms, 64 percent of which belonged to the police.
This year, Nolcom said a total of 56 special operations led to the "clearing" of several rebel-affected barangays.
"Aside from their normal security functions, Nolcom troops also performed non-traditional roles, drawing them even closer to the civilian populace. Our soldiers figured in several disaster response and rescue operations at the height of typhoons and other calamities," the command said
In coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Coast Guard, Nolcom said its men also enforced environmental laws that led to the confiscation of 97,299 board feet of illegally cut lumber and two chainsaws, and the apprehension of 16 vessels, including a Taiwanese ship, and 99 illegal fishermen.
Nolcom added that its troopers assisted police units in operations that led to the arrest of 11 members of notorious kidnap-for-ransom gangs and the seizure of 11 firearms from them.
"Our support (for the drive against) drug trafficking led to the uprooting of 137,000 fully grown marijuana plants and the confiscation of 30 kilograms of marijuana bricks," it said. — With James Mananghaya