Govt drive vs NPA affected by cyclones
11/08/2009 | 10:43 PM
The recent killer cyclones that hit the country had taken its toll on the government’s anti-insurgency campaign, with soldiers devoting their time on helping victims than fighting communist rebels, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Sunday.
“Our soldiers were totally devoted to disaster relief and response and support to national development. Internal security operations are basically on active defense mode so our anti-insurgency campaign, admittedly, had been hampered," he said.
Teodoro is the concurrent head of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), which is spearheading relief and rehabilitation operations to cyclone-affected areas. He will be leaving his posts in the Department of National Defense and NDCC to prepare for his presidential bid in next year's elections.
The military however remains optimistic that it could vanquish the communist New People's Army (NPA) rebels in 2010 as ordered by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
“We are not saying that we’ll reduce the problem to zero. What we are saying is to reduce the problem significantly. I cannot exactly say the (extent of the) effect but we will know when the time comes," said Armed Forces chief Gen. Victor Ibrado.
Ibrado said all counter-insurgency operations in Luzon were suspended as soldiers were tapped to respond to need of the thousands of cyclone victims. He said that in some cases, soldiers were pre-positioned to mitigate the effects of upcoming weather disturbances.
“In Region 1 and Region 2, almost all our troops were focused (on the typhoons)," said Ibrado.
Without giving numbers, Ibrado said the military is planning to augment with fighting troops the military engineering units that are currently involved in the rehabilitation efforts in the cyclone-stricken areas.
“We are reinforcing our engineers. We are going to get people from the maneuver units," he said.
More than 800 people died while thousands more were left homeless when cyclones Ondoy, Pepeng, Ramil and Santi battered many key areas in Luzon, including Metro Manila. - GMANews.TV
“Our soldiers were totally devoted to disaster relief and response and support to national development. Internal security operations are basically on active defense mode so our anti-insurgency campaign, admittedly, had been hampered," he said.
Teodoro is the concurrent head of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), which is spearheading relief and rehabilitation operations to cyclone-affected areas. He will be leaving his posts in the Department of National Defense and NDCC to prepare for his presidential bid in next year's elections.
The military however remains optimistic that it could vanquish the communist New People's Army (NPA) rebels in 2010 as ordered by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
“We are not saying that we’ll reduce the problem to zero. What we are saying is to reduce the problem significantly. I cannot exactly say the (extent of the) effect but we will know when the time comes," said Armed Forces chief Gen. Victor Ibrado.
Ibrado said all counter-insurgency operations in Luzon were suspended as soldiers were tapped to respond to need of the thousands of cyclone victims. He said that in some cases, soldiers were pre-positioned to mitigate the effects of upcoming weather disturbances.
“In Region 1 and Region 2, almost all our troops were focused (on the typhoons)," said Ibrado.
Without giving numbers, Ibrado said the military is planning to augment with fighting troops the military engineering units that are currently involved in the rehabilitation efforts in the cyclone-stricken areas.
“We are reinforcing our engineers. We are going to get people from the maneuver units," he said.
More than 800 people died while thousands more were left homeless when cyclones Ondoy, Pepeng, Ramil and Santi battered many key areas in Luzon, including Metro Manila. - GMANews.TV
