Friday, February 3, 2017

Military on alert in Zamboanga del Sur

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 4): Military on alert in Zamboanga del Sur

Military troops have been placed on alert against possible attacks from members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in this province.

The alert level was raised after President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday announced the lifting of the unilateral ceasefire with the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA (CPP-NPA).

“We are on alert status and we are only waiting for further directives from the general headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),” Lt. Col. Virgilio Hamos Jr., the Army’s 53rd Infantry Battalion (IB) commander, said on Saturday.

However, Hamos said the situation in his area of responsibility “is still okay” and that they are still in control.
 
The 53rd IB covers the entire province except for the municipality of Bayog. The battalion’s headquarters is located in the town of Guipos.

Hamos disclosed that seven of this province’s 26 municipalities are known to be NPA-influenced areas. These are the municipalities of San Miguel, Lapuyan, Bayog, Lakewood, Midsalip, Dumingag and Josefina.

He said a recent assessment put the NPA's influence in the seven towns at three on a scale of one to 10.
 
“These municipalities are on the watch list,” he added.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=961058

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