The 79th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army based in Siaton town, Negros Oriental, has deployed soldiers to at least three villages in their area of coverage in support of the government’s "Oplan Bayanihan."
Calling themselves peace and development workers, the soldiers were deployed for a week now since February 7 in the villages of Calango and Mayabon in Zamboanguita and in Tayak, Siaton, with the nod of the town mayors and village chiefs.
Oplan Bayanihan, which replaces "Oplan Bantay Laya," is the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) new program that runs from 2011 to 2016 to promote peace and development via a collaboration of stakeholders, said Lt. Col. Pio Diñoso III, 79th IB commander.
The paradigm shift, according to Diñoso, focuses on a new tool to forge closer relationships between the people, local government officials and the national government, stressing that the insurgency problem cannot be addressed solely by engaging the rebels in combat.
The 79th IB’s peace and development workers are in these villages to also protect them from the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CCP), whose members have been allegedly sighted there, Diñoso said. - pna
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