CAMP NAKAR, Lucena City, Philippines – Quezon province, once regarded as the main hub of communist rebels, may be declared insurgency-free within the year, the military said yesterday.
Armed Forces Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Roland Detabali said the lead role of maintaining internal security in the province may be turned over to the police and local governments by yearend.
“Our timeline for the turnover is supposed to be at the end of 2013. But with our current phase, it is possible that we can do it by the end of 2012 or early 2013,” Detabali told journalists here.
“As far as we’re concerned, we believe we’ll be ready by 2012. It depends on the final agreement with higher authorities,” he added.
Col. Eduardo Año, commander of the Army’s 201st Infantry Brigade, said they were able to stop the recruitment of insurgents in the province.
Año said their operations and development projects have weakened the New People’s Army (NPA), adding that the number of rebel-influenced barangays is down from 40 to 10.
Año said the death of NPA leader Gregorio Rosal also contributed to the decline of insurgency in Quezon.
Rosal was the leader of the Quezon-based NPA Melito Glor command, which used to be one of the strongest rebel units in the country. He died of a heart disease in June 2011 but the communist rebels only announced his death four months after.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines declares an area “insurgency free” if the strength of rebels within its jurisdiction is too small to influence its residents and their activities.
However, military officials said such declaration does not necessarily mean zero presence of insurgents.
A total of 24 provinces have been declared insurgency-free. These are Apayao, Ifugao, Kalinga, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Biliran, Cebu, Bohol, Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, South Cotabato, La Union, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Cavite, Marinduque, Romblon, Guimaras, Siquijor, Northern Leyte, Southern Leyte and Aklan.