SOME 1,000 Dabawenyos were employed as soldiers to achieve an insurgency-free city in the last two years, said 1003rd Infantry Brigade commander Brigadier General Ernesto Torres Jr.

“We recruited, trained and deployed more than 1,000 Dabawenyos to become regular soldiers, special Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgus), and regular Cafgus,” Torres said in his speech during the weekly flag ceremony at the City Hall.

“This resulted in a more dense security coverage especially in far-flung barangays in the city,” he added.

Torres added the employment opportunity to these Dabawenyos has an economic improvement to them and their families as they have been employed and compensated as members of the security.

“We were relentless in the conduct of combat operations which crippled the leadership and the organization of the communist-terrorist groups operating in Davao City,” he said.

Torres said they maintain peace by increasing the number of battalion assigned in the city from one in 2017 to currently four battalions.

“Now, those incidents are rare, or should I say, gone. How did it happen? Advocates of peace and security sat down and collaborated and committed themselves to contribute in the effort of putting an end on insurgency,” he said.

Meanwhile, Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) chief Benito De Leon presented other security commanders such as 10th Infantry Division Major General Jose Faustino Jr. and newly-appointed commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Eastern Mindanao Command Major General Felimon Santos Jr.