By DX LAPID
ABS-CBN Dumaguete
NEGROS ORIENTAL – An additional battalion of soldiers is set to be deployed to Northern Negros Island to augment Army’s 11th Infantry Battalion (IB) for the military campaign to end the insurgency problem.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Central Command chief, Lt. Gen. Pedro "Ike" Insierto, announced that 43rd IB of the Army’s 8th Division would be deploying in the northern part of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.
The Army unit would come from the province of Bohol.
43rd IB will be augmenting 11th IB and the Army’s First Scout Ranger Battalion in Canlaon City.
"We will solve the problem of insurgency in the island of Negros before this year ends," said Insierto.
The island of Negros is AFP Central Command’s priority area for the counterinsurgency campaign after the military downgraded the threat of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the provinces of Bohol, Cebu, Leyte and Samar.
The military has said that there are still four NPA guerilla fronts in Negros island namely; Kumiteng Northern Negros, Kumiteng Central Negros, Kumiteng Southwest Negros, and Kumiteng Sentral Bisayas.
A series of encounters between the military and NPA have recently happened in the towns of Sta. Catalina and Siaton in Negros Oriental.
After the ARMM elections, the 43rd IB would already be deployed in the island.
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