PALAYAN CITY – Soldiers in the frontline of campaign against insurgency were urged by their top commander to embrace a paradigm shift which focuses on development efforts over combat operations.
Presiding the turn over of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division command to Major Gen. Ireneo Espina, Philippine Army’s commanding general, Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit said that while they at Fort Bonifacio count dead rebel bodies everyday, the insurgency seems to be unstoppable using the traditional way of fighting.
“Nasan ba tayo? The problem ay nandun pa rin and we have not addressed as if we have not achieved so much as far as counter insurgency is concerned,” he said.
With the paradigm shift, he said, Filipino soldiers are trained to be more of being “development and people oriented.”
This paradigm, according to Bangit, brings the campaign from being counter-insurgency to anti-insurgency.
To effect the cause, he stressed, an unspecified portion of the Army’s proposed P1.2 billion budget in 2010 shall be used for infrastructure equipment and school materials such as dump trucks and pencils.
However, Bangit urged Espino, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class ’79, to “take the 7-ID to the finish line,” of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s deadline in finishing the insurgency.
This as Espino’s predecessor, Major Gen. Ralph Villanueva of Philippine Military Academy Class ’78 who was fielded to head the Central Visayas Command in Lapu-Lapu City, reported that some 544 New People’s Army rebels have surrendered and some 17 rebels were killed during his stint. He also said that at least 197 assorted high powered firearms were also recovered under his leadership for more than one year.
Villanueva said 291 villages in Central Luzon and parts of Pangasinan were cleared of insurgents.
It’s only “three months before the deadline but nevertheless, many have been done already by Gen. Villanueva so there’s no doubt you can do the job,” Bangit told Espino.
Presiding the turn over of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division command to Major Gen. Ireneo Espina, Philippine Army’s commanding general, Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit said that while they at Fort Bonifacio count dead rebel bodies everyday, the insurgency seems to be unstoppable using the traditional way of fighting.
“Nasan ba tayo? The problem ay nandun pa rin and we have not addressed as if we have not achieved so much as far as counter insurgency is concerned,” he said.
With the paradigm shift, he said, Filipino soldiers are trained to be more of being “development and people oriented.”
This paradigm, according to Bangit, brings the campaign from being counter-insurgency to anti-insurgency.
To effect the cause, he stressed, an unspecified portion of the Army’s proposed P1.2 billion budget in 2010 shall be used for infrastructure equipment and school materials such as dump trucks and pencils.
However, Bangit urged Espino, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class ’79, to “take the 7-ID to the finish line,” of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s deadline in finishing the insurgency.
This as Espino’s predecessor, Major Gen. Ralph Villanueva of Philippine Military Academy Class ’78 who was fielded to head the Central Visayas Command in Lapu-Lapu City, reported that some 544 New People’s Army rebels have surrendered and some 17 rebels were killed during his stint. He also said that at least 197 assorted high powered firearms were also recovered under his leadership for more than one year.
Villanueva said 291 villages in Central Luzon and parts of Pangasinan were cleared of insurgents.
It’s only “three months before the deadline but nevertheless, many have been done already by Gen. Villanueva so there’s no doubt you can do the job,” Bangit told Espino.
