BESAO, Mountain province – The Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) passed a resolution condemning the alleged atrocities committed by the members of the New Peoples Army (NPA) in attacking military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) last week that resulted to the untimely demise of four soldiers and the wounding of two others at sitio Dandanac, Tambuan, here.
Moreover, the MPOC also passed a separate resolution strongly endorsing priority projects of the municipal government to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), particularly the improvement of road networks from Besao to Ilocos Sur, Besao to Tuba, Abra and Agawa to Gueday to Ambagiw road.
MPOC members present during the special meeting Friday also agreed that all the 14 barangays of the municipality will enact their respective barangay ordinance banning the presence and the activities of the NPA rebels and other lawless groups that are present in the said barangays.
Based on the agreement made by the MPOC members, the enactment of the barangay ordinances will be initiated by the local chapter of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC).
At the same time, the municipal council endorsed a joint resolution of the MPOC and Municipal Anti-Drug Abuse Council (MADAC) banning the presence and activities of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New Peoples Army – National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and other lawless elements in the municipality for the achievement of lasting peace and to allow the implementation of development projects that will boost the growth and development of the town.
The conduct of the special MPOC meeting was upon the request of Brig. Gen. Henry Robinson, brigade commander of the 702nd Infantry Brigade based in Sta. Cruz, Ilocos Sur, who visited Mayor Johnson D. Bantog II in his office last Tuesday.
The area of operation of the 702nd IB includes the provinces of Ilocos Sur, La Union, Tubo in Abra and Besao and Sagada in Mountain Province.
Robinson informed Mayor Bantog that the military has closely monitoried the activities of the communist rebels in their areas of operation which allowed them to uncover that the NPAs were allegedly within the vicinity of Dandanac in Tambuan, Besao and Patiacan, Quirino, Ilocos Sur wherein the rebels were allegedly planning to conduct tactical offensives and terrorist activities targeting police stations, military camps and civilians in the said areas.
The military officer assured the MPOC that the primary reason why he requested Mayor Bantog to call for a special MPOC meeting was to assure the people in the municipality that the presence of the military in the area is for the preservation of peace and to thwart whatever planned atrocities of the communist rebels in the coming days.
Mayor Bantog expressed his gratitude to the military officers who visited the municipality, saying that the realization of lasting peace is a primordial concern of the local government to help in the further development of the municipality through the infusion of more development projects that will benefit the residents living in the remotes part of the town.
By HENT
