MANILA, Philippines - A total of 120 Army soldiers have been deployed to the Davao region to boost the government’s campaign against communist rebels.
Maj. Gen. Eduardo Año, chief of the Army’s 10th division, said the additional troops would come from the 7th Infantry Division based in Nueva Ecija.
“They will be deployed to augment our peace and development outreach program teams. Some will join strike forces in decimating the NPA (New People’s Army),” Año said.
“We hope also that with additional manpower, we will be more effective in the conduct of focused military operations in order to pressure NPA members to surrender,” he added.
Davao is one of the areas with huge concentration of communist insurgents. Año said the rebels are extorting from mining companies and are hampering the implementation of government projects.
“We have to stop these atrocities to bring about development,” he said.
The additional forces arrived last Friday and were deployed to the 69th, 84th, and 71st Infantry Battalions.
The military has pegged the strength of the communist movement at about 3,200 as of the end of 2014. - with a report from Keith Calayag