8th ID chief vows to address insurgency before GMA’s term ends

By ELI C. DALUMPINES (PIA Samar)
September 22, 2006

CATBALOGAN, Samar   – Though he recognized that much have yet to be done to end the problem, the new Commanding General of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division based here vowed to address the problem of insurgency in Eastern Visayas before the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ends in 2010.

Maj. Gen. Rodrigo S. Maclang, in an interview Thursday, informed that his unit is coming up with new concepts that will lead to the neutralization of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) in the next few months.

He, however, disclosed that he opted to adopt a two-pronged approach in solving insurgency in Eastern Visayas considering the economic condition of the provinces in the region.

He clarified that while the military is continuing its campaign against the insurgents, it will, at the same time, assists the local government units in ensuring that development will reach to the communities, especially those that are poverty-stricken.

Gen. Maclang aired his observation that some provinces in the region had been so neglected in the past years that they became fertile grounds for breeding insurgents.

Samar, for instance, is suffering from the lack of road networks that its economy stagnated, he said. This, he added, made the Samareño vulnerable to the rebels’ propaganda.

He cited the importance of road in insurgency campaign saying it allows greater mobility on the part of the military in running after the rebels, not to mention the fact that it gives the farmers easy access to the market and the government to deliver basic services to the interior villages.

Maclang likewise stressed that the military will exert efforts to protect the developed areas and ensure that the NPA’s extortion activities will be totally stopped.