BILAR, BOHOL, Philippines – “The threat of insurgency is very real because rebels want to regain” their stronghold and mass base in Bohol if the people will just fold their arms, said Lt. Col. Romeo S. Brawner, who recently turned over the command of the Philippine Army Special Forces Battalion to Lt. Col. Julius Tomines.
In his valedictory remarks during the change of command rites at the SF camp in Barangay Riverside of this hinterland town, Brawner, a native of Baguio City, saluted and thanked those who collaborated with his troops in making Bohol “insurgency-free” during his two-year stint.
“The CNN (Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front-New People’s Army) will not succeed for as long as everybody works together to prevent the insurgents,” he said, while appealing to the public to leave the military apolitical and help attain peace and progress in the province.
The turnover of command was presided over by Col. Donato Belmonte San Juan of the Philippine Army’s IISF, who also expressed confidence that Tomines will succeed with the same public support extended to Brawner.
Being insurgency-free is not only the absence of the rebels but in sending the message across that the people are always there to protect the gains, said San Juan.
Tomines, for his part, said he will serve as SF commander in the context of the internal security program, and vowed to continue what Brawner had accomplished coupled with the competency of men in uniform.
He conceptualized his own vision for the SF with the code SPECIAL, which stands for (S) smart, (P) peace advocates, (E) efficient and effective, (C) champion of the human rights, to be (I) impressive, (A) action-oriented and (L) love by the people.
The event was attended by Gov. Edgar Chatto and his wife Pureza; Mayor Norman Palacio of Bilar town, the wives of Brawner and Tomines, Carmen town Mayor Che de los Reyes, former PB members Corazon Galbreath and Ma. Fe Camacho-Lejos, Bohol Police provincial director Constantino Barot, Tagbilaran City Councilor Baba Yap and Provincial Administrator Alfonso Damalerio II, among others. - THE FREEMAN