No Army pullout in Aurora despite NPA-free status

By Manny Galvez

BONGABON, Nueva Ecija– The military won’t withdraw its forces in Aurora in spite of the joint declaration by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police that the province is now free from communist influence after several decades.

Army Col. Felicito Trinidad, commander of the Army’s 702nd Infantry Brigade, said they have no plans of pulling out their battalion stationed in Aurora even if the New People’s Army no longer holds sway following the declaration Feb. 18 of the entire province as insurgency-free.

“We will maintain our presence there. Of course, we won’t leave,” he said.

The joint declaration, presented to no less than President Arroyo by Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, Trinidad and PNP provincial director Senior Superintendent Romulo Esteban, cited the efforts of law enforcers in bringing down the NPA’s strength and influence in the province, once the “lair and training ground of armed communist rebels.”

The declaration bound the provincial government and various local government units to sustain the delivery of basic services through anti-poverty socio-economic development programs.

With the declaration, the Army turned over the lead role in internal security operations to the provincial government.

Some quarters have expressed apprehension that with Aurora now cleared of NPA threats, the military would pull out its troops, demobilize the 48th Infantry Battalion in this capital town and leave peace and order solely in the hands of the police.

They said this might open the way for the NPA to regroup and return to Aurora “with a vengeance.”

Trinidad said they would not leave Aurora because this could negate the gains in normalizing peace and order in the province.

“In the first place, it would be a waste if we don’t protect the facilities we have set in place, so definitely we will stay,” he said.

The 702nd IB, whose mother unit is the 7th Infantry Division based at Fort Magsaysay in Palayan City, holds jurisdiction over Nueva Ecija, Aurora, eastern Pangasinan, Dinapigue in Isabela, and six municipalities of Nueva Vizcaya.

Maj. Gen. Ireneo Espino, 7th ID commanding general, said the NPA-free declaration was the result of four years of “convergence efforts of the LGUs, the AFP and the PNP whose vision was to attain economic development to uplift the standard of living of Aurorans and make insurgency inconsequential.”