All fronts of the communist group New People's Army (NPA) in Negros Occidental have been weakened, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday, January 15.
Lacson cited a report from the Philippine Army, stating that there are 13 to 14 NPA fronts left all over the country.
"It has been weakened. It is not as strong as it was before. They will continue to show that they are active and give the impression that they are a force to reckon with," the governor pointed out.
In Negros Occidental, Lacson said there is still one front left that is based on the Chicks area (Cauayan, Hinoba-an, Ilog, Candoni, Kabankalan City, and Sipalay City), which is covered by the 6th district of the province.
But, it has been declared "weakened," he stressed.
Lacson, chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council, said that in Western Visayas, out of the five or six rebel fronts, there are two fronts left, one in Negros and one in Panay, which was also declared as "weakened."
"They are still there. But the Army said they will not leave the areas with rebel fronts," he said.
In a video message posted on Facebook, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that the military had neutralized 1,399 members of communist and local terrorist groups. “We obtained 1,751 firearms, through capture, confiscation, and recovery or surrender,” he said.
The President attributed the gains in the campaign against armed threats to the vigorous operations of security forces and the coordination among defense and intelligence agencies.*