Anti-insurgent efforts intensified
According to Galvez, the government has also established quick-response teams to help the affected students, teachers, and locals in Masbate.
Following a series of battles between communist insurgents and security forces this week, The Marcos administration assured the public on Friday that it has been taking steps to stop them from undertaking additional terroristic actions in Masbate.
Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said that the 9th Infantry Division of the military and the Philippine National Police’s Regional Command in Bicol met at Camp Ola in Legazpi City on 23 March in response to a presidential directive to increase police visibility and presence in schools impacted by the New People’s Army’s activity.
According to Galvez, the region’s Philippine Army and PNP units have stepped up their operations against the rebels and stressed that military commanders are working with the police, the local government and school officials to figure out how to combat the rebels’ disinformation campaign.
The peace and order council meetings will be held to discuss the current situation and Galvez said that the government has also established quick-response teams to help the affected students, teachers and locals in Masbate.
“School officials were also briefed on how to react appropriately to a similar situation involving firefights or IED incidents in areas with close proximity to learning institutions,” Galvez said.
He added that the rebels’ most recent assaults were acts of desperation following a string of failures in recent battles with government forces.
Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged the country earlier this week to be “continuously vigilant” in light of recent violent episodes in Masbate.
“We are deeply concerned over the incidents of violence in Masbate which had traumatized the affected civilians who were generally school children and their teachers,” Marcos said in a tweet.
In other developments, the Department of National Defense denounced the use of improvised explosive devices near schools and in public areas by the NPA in Masbate, which killed and injured government troops and civilians.
The DND, in a statement Friday, emphasized the terrible and harmful impacts of the atrocities perpetrated by the NPA.
“The DND vehemently condemns the recent series of violent acts perpetrated by the Communist Terrorist Group that inflicted injuries on our uniformed personnel and innocent civilians, especially children, in the towns of Placer and Kawayan in Masbate,” the statement read.
To recall, two soldiers of the Philippine Army’s 2nd Infantry Battalion were wounded in an encounter with more or less 11 NPA members at Barangay Locso-an in Placer town on 22 March. While the NPA attacks near schools resulted in trauma for young students.
The NPA was also responsible for the explosion incident that also resulted in an encounter in Dimasalang town. While a soldier was killed in a clash with NPA rebels in Barangay Villahermosa, Cawayan town, also in Masbate province, early this week.
“By committing atrocities such as the use of improvised explosive devices near schools and in public areas, the CTG has placed our people in harm’s way. Their utter lack of conscience truly shows that they are desperate in their vain efforts to project a false facade of relevance and strength,” the DND said.