170 RP soldiers who served in Israel to fight rebels in the Cordillera

CAMP MELCHOR DELA CRUZ, Isabela — Fresh from their United Nations’ peacekeeping stint at the Golan Heights in Israel, at least 170 Philippine Army soldiers are now with the newly-formed 86th Infantry Battalion and will be sent to fight communist rebels in the Cordillera Administrative Region. Lt. Col. Ernesto Simon, 86th IB commanding officer, said the Army contingent under the 5th Infantry Division (ID) command shall be trained for combat in the mountains. The formation of the new battalion came after the soldiers from the Golan Heights were asked to be deployed to Northern Luzon to help in anti-insurgency operations there. Cordillera remains a major rebel base in the decades-old communist insurgency. Last month, seven Army soldiers were killed in an ambush in the Mountain Province, promping the Armed Forces to work for the dismantling of five guerrilla fronts operating in several villages, said Maj. Gen. Rommel Gomez, 5th Infantry Division commander. “We have to focus more in the Cordillera. We failed to take a look at that time but we have to set our eyes there now. The remaining five guerrilla fronts are not in Region 1 or 2, it is in the Cordillera," Gomez said. He is optimistic that the battalion would contribute to victory for the Armed Forces in the Cordillera, saying, “This is a highly-disciplined group, being veterans of the UN mission at the Golan Heights." The division was diminished when a battalion was sent to Maguindanao to help in peacekeeping efforts there. "We cannot bring them back here. As you all know, (with) the volatile situation in Maguindanao we cannot pull them out," Gomez added. Acknowledging the previous debacles in his division, Gomez said, “Eventually we will win… eventually, we will be successful in dismantling the New People's Army fronts in the Cordillera." — Joel Nueva/LBG, GMANews.TV