BALAMBAN, Cebu — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) through the Central Command (Centcom) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), through the Police Regional Office-7 (PRO-7) has declared Cebu province insurgent free and as a result, thus, has turned over its provincial Internal Security Operations (ISO) to the Cebu Provincial Peace and Order Council (CPPOC).

The turn-over was formalized by a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) entered into by Major Gen. Arthur Tabaquero, Commander of the 8th Infantry Division, Centcom; PRO-7 Director, Chief Supt. Lani-O Nerez; and Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.

The MoA was signed the other day, during the 22nd founding anniversary celebration of the 78th Infantry Battalion in this town.

The agreement was made after all aforementioned parties affirmed that the province is “presently insulated from the presence of armed rebels or members of the New People’s Army.”
In turning over the internal security operations of the province to the CPPOC, the Philippine Army (PA) has deemed the rebels have ceased to function effectively as an organized insurgent movement in Cebu.

According to Col. Raymundo Bañares, Commander of the 78th Infantry Battalion, the military has assessed that the local communist movement threat has been “significantly reduced and relegated to inconsequential” and that actual mass support for such movement have ceased.

He said, it “is now incapable of resurging as an insurgent group and wage isolated armed incidents, and henceforth, the PA in the province will now “focus on community development instead of combat operations.”

Still, the aforementioned accord requires all parties to maintain close coordination, maximize intelligence sharing and enhance community awareness and participation in all stages in the conduct of the ISOs.

With this new development, the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) now commits to provide the direction and necessary operational, logistical and legal support to PNP and AFP, as the case may be, to ensure the maintenance of peace and order in the province.

The PRO-7, through the Regional Public Safety Management Battalion and the CPPO shall now be the primary unit to support the CPPOC in its ISOs.

The MoA signing was witnessed by provincial mayors, heads of other law enforcement agencies, and provincial officials who all were given certificates of appreciation for supporting the ISO.

Also on the same occasion, Garcia handed over a new Kia van to the 78th IB for their operational use and led in the burning of 3,000 stalks of fully-grown marijuana plants uprooted earlier this year in various parts of the province. (with a report from PNA)