Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., Philippine Army chief, said the ongoing pursuit operations against New People’s Army rebels in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, is part of their overall campaign to end the local Communist armed conflict.
Brawner, who was in Bacolod City for the annual Philippine Army Multi-Sectoral Advisory Board summit on Friday, October 14, said “I am very happy to see we are hitting the targets…we really want to dismantle the guerilla fronts”.
Military and rebel forces have engaged in eight clashes in Barangay Carabalan, Himamaylan City, since October 6 that have caused thousands of residents to flee their homes.
“Aside from combat operations are efforts to win the hearts and minds of people, it’s not all war,” Brawner said.
“What is more important is we help each other because we are all Filipinos,” he said.
They are hoping that the rebels will surrender, Brawner said.
“We believe with the proper information, with the proper delivery of basic services to our people they will change their minds and return to the folds of the law,” he added.
“These guerilla fronts are the ones that are really taking advantage of the Filipino people and they’re using the armed struggle to achieve goals that could be achieved without armed struggle because we live in a democratic country. So I hope they believe in the democratic processes and not fight government using arms,” he said.*