OF THE more than 600 villages in Negros Occidental, 59 were insurgency-affected, or eight percent, this year.

Colonel Benedict Arevalo, commander of 303rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, said on Thursday, February 7, that “it is not alarming.”

However, he said it still needs to be given attention because of the presence of armed men.

Most of the insurgency-affected villages are in the Sixth District, which is composed of Candoni, Hinoba-an, Ilog, Cauayan, and Kabankalan; and Sipalay City.

Arevalo said a village can be categorized as insurgency-affected if there’s an established organization of a group.

If there are movement and sightings of rebels or armed men, he added.

If there is also the existence of extortion activities, he said.

Arevalo said the number of these villages will still increase, depending on the situation, especially that the elections is approaching.

He said the military troops are continuing their monitoring and clearing operations.

Meanwhile, 125 barangays in four Panay provinces were also affected by insurgency.